


A Touch of Evil

by ImperialAxis



Category: RWBY
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Porn, BDSM, Corruption, Cum Eating, F/F, Forced Feminization, Full Pollination, Gaslighting, Incest, Manipulation, Mind Control, Mommy Issues, Multi, Other, Smut, Somnophilia, Tentacles, Trans Ruby Rose (RWBY), Womb Tatoos, polypile
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:01:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialAxis/pseuds/ImperialAxis
Summary: An offer which Ruby Rose should refuse is presented, but it is brought on the heels of a revelation strong enough to break her down. She gives in, and finds herself inseparable from Salem's will. With this, Salem finally digs her claws into the soul of a silver-eyed warrior and creates an infiltrator within Beacon, whose duty is to spread her influence to those around her.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Salem/Ruby Rose, and more - Relationship, main character polypile, or smutpile
Comments: 51
Kudos: 104
Collections: RWBY Smut, Smutty Rhyne





	1. Her Legacy Is Spawning

**Author's Note:**

> This was inevitable. I will indulge myself without end

Ruby’s ears were still ringing from the force of the train breaching the old subway wall. She was pretty sure she had briefly lost consciousness despite the shell of ice Weiss had enclosed everyone in, and a glance around through blurry vision failed to show any familiar bursts of yellow or black against the gray concrete of the streets surrounding her. 

Measured footsteps approached her, and Ruby caught a glimpse of something white as they stopped right in front of her. “Weiss?” She groaned. Talking hurt, and she could barely move.

Cruel laugher was the first and only sign that this may not be Weiss. “Guess again little red. Neo, if you would.” 

There was a hollow twacking sound, pain filled Ruby’s head, and her world faded back to darkness.

###### 

There was no pain when Ruby awoke the second time. She felt surprisingly clear headed, though the moment she opened her eyes she was sure that that must be because she was dreaming. There was simply no other way to explain her surroundings.

It was like some sort of ancient abandoned castle, but decorated by someone to look as evil as possible. Everything in what seemed to be a throne room was either made from obsidian and similarly colored materials, or painted blood red. She was sitting in a chair set about halfway down a long black table, with an actual throne at the head. The sky beyond the large floor to ceiling windows roiled with dark purple storm clouds that tinted the dim light that filled the room.

“Welcome to my home, Ruby Rose.” A woman’s voice spoke from behind Ruby, and she recoiled from the ghastly visage before her. “My name is Salem. So kind of you to join me.”

Instinctively, Ruby tried to grab Crescent Rose, but her baby wasn’t at her side. It was gone, along with the rest of her combat gear, so she tried running away in a burst of petals. An instant later, a shining blue barrier blocked her path and she slammed into it, stunned.

“Do not bother attempting to escape, I could easily kill you if I wished. Recall in the future that I choose not to, being a benevolent hostess.” Salem tsked as she grabbed onto Ruby’s cloak and dragged her back into a chair. 

Ruby tried to get back up and run anyway, but an immaterial black sheet covered her body, restricting her movements. When she tried to use her semblance again, she found that she couldn’t, despite her aura still being active. “What? Let me go!”

Salem spun the chair around, bringing Ruby to face her. “I have brought you here unharmed, and even gone so far as to heal the wounds you received in being captured. I expect the courtesy of being heard out, and furthermore, you stand to benefit a great deal from what I have to tell you. I offer you the chance to save the lives of those dear to you.”

“Save their lives?” Ruby stopped, her focus immediately directed to this threat. “But they’re not even in any danger.”

“Have your ear now, do I?” A satisfied smile spread across Salem’s face. “Tell me Ruby Rose, what is your favorite fairy tale?”

“What does that have to do with my friends?” Ruby glared at Salem and struggled against the binding again.

“ _Everything_ is connected my dear. Now,” Salem clenched her fist, and as she did Ruby felt as if the fist were clenching around her throat, “answer.”

The force constricting her throat lifted, sending Ruby into a short coughing fit before she could speak again. “My favorite fairy tales are the ones about huntresses.” She grit her teeth, and started looking for an opportunity to get away from here. The best chance she had was to keep Salem talking. Her threats were empty, they had to be.

“As expected from one such as yourself.” Salem scoffed. “I have a fairy tale to tell you, one unlike any other. For you see, this tale is true.” She raised her hands, and before Ruby’s eyes fantastic illusions began to appear, illustrating Salem’s tale.

“A long time ago, a very lonely girl was trapped in a tower, locked away by her cruel father. She lived in a world where kingdoms and their kings were bountiful, where humanity was capable of greatness, and magic was a skill that all could wield. One day, she was rescued by a legendary hero named Ozma, and together they wandered the land as saviors. Evildoers fell before the combined might of their power and their love, and none could stand in their righteous path.” Salem paused briefly, and sighed before continuing.

“But they were mere mortals, and in the end Ozma died not in battle, but of disease, at an age that was far too young. Where all of the foes in the world had failed, a mere sickness prevailed. He left his love behind, and her grief was as vast as the sun and dark as the night. In the desperation of her darkest hour she turned to the Brother Gods, who dwelled among humanity.” Salem scowled every time she mentioned the gods. “And they scorned her.”

“She prayed that they would see the injustice that had befallen her love, and make things right. She journeyed to the Domain of Light, sacred home of the God of Creation, and petitioned him to bring Ozma back. He denied her, instead stubbornly maintaining that life and death were a natural order, and not to be interfered with.”

“Thus spurned, she could have given up, could have moved on. But she refused to believe that such injustice could exist when gods lived in and watched over the world. It was cruel, and she determined that she would do whatever she must to fight that cruelty. So she did something that none had dared do before. She ventured unto the Domain of Darkness, the home of the God of Destruction, an empty, dead land infested with malicious creatures born from bubbling pools of pure destruction. He was surprised to find the girl kneeling before him, and she told him of her plea, sure that only he could help her. He granted her request, only for his brother to intervene, and steal away Ozma once again.”

“They fought each other at first, only to turn against the girl as one in the name of the beauty of their heartless creation. They cursed her with immortality, to never die and move on to see her beloved in the afterlife so long as this world turned. She was a prisoner once again, and as years passed she began to understand her mistake and realize that the gods were fallible. They could turn against one another, and perhaps they could even be killed.”

“She traveled throughout the land, spreading word of the gods’ injustice and their imperfect nature, with her own immortality as proof. She led an attack on the gods by all of humanity, and in response, the gods eradicated all of humanity, save Salem. They saw an entire planet as a mere experiment, and when that experiment rose up against them, they ended it. It was the God of Darkness who shattered the moon, in a fit of wanton destruction. And once again, the girl in the tower was alone.”

“She cursed the gods, the universe, everything. She wandered the face of the planet awaiting nothing more than her own death, but it would never come, until she found herself back in the Land of Darkness. Surely the pools of infinite destruction left behind by the God of Darkness could end her misery. In one final desperate gambit, she threw herself into the pool, where infinite destruction inflicted itself upon infinite life.”

“When she eventually escaped the pool, she was not dead. Merely changed. She had become more like the Grimm, gained some influence and understanding of them, but still she had nothing to live for.”

“That was not the end, however. Millenia passed, and eventually humanity walked Remnant once again, born not from the power of the Gods, but by the same nature as all other living things. The girl secluded herself away from much of humanity, lest they fear her warped appearance and force her to defend herself with powers they could not fathom. She became a healer and a hermit, known to the people only as The Witch.”

“One day, the Witch opened her door to see a man who was Ozma, and yet was not. Their appearances had been completely altered, but the moment they saw each other they recognised the ones in the world that they loved. She was shocked, and Ozma recounted to her the events that had brought him to Remnant once more.”

“The gods had known that humanity would eventually return in the wake of their departure, and so they chose a disciple to watch over humanity in their absence. In addition to being given the ability to reincarnate upon death, Ozma was shown four powerful relics, each representing a gift that they had created humanity with, and told him that when those relics were reunited, humanity would be judged on its ability to live together in harmony. The gods would then either destroy humanity for good, or return their magic.”

“Together, they set about a task of reuniting the world, and bringing peace to the chaos that surrounded them. With magic still at their disposal none could stand before them, and they pushed back the Grimm that terrorized the boundaries of human civilization. With their displays of power, they amassed a following, which grew into a prosperous kingdom. At the head of that kingdom blossomed a family. Four beautiful children, all of whom were capable of magic.”

“That was when their paths diverged. To the Witch, their children were a sign that it was possible to return magic to the world without bringing back the gods who had callously destroyed it. But Ozma betrayed her and chose the side of the gods. He attempted to escape the kingdom with their children in tow. In the fight that followed, all five of her family members were dead, and Salem stood alone and betrayed once more.”

Ruby stared at Salem as the fantastical visions before her faded away, leaving only the castle, and the ominously darkened sky. It... it had to be at least a little bit true. Salem was here, in front of her, and she was obviously doing all of this with magic. Her surroundings even resembled the land of Darkness. But the story didn’t feel complete, and nothing about this seemed as righteous as Salem acted, especially if she was the one behind the attempt to destroy Vale with the train.

“Why even tell me these things?” Ruby shook her head. At some point her bindings had been removed, but she had been too mesmerized by the illusion to run. She wouldn’t be able to see anything if she had tried anyway. And after that display it was clear she couldn’t outfight Salem. “What’s the point? If you’re the one behind Roman Torchwick, I’m trying to stop you.”

“I brought you here to help you, Ruby Rose.” Salem smiled ominously, and gently placed the back of her hand against Ruby’s cheek. “Surely you now understand that what I seek is simply what is best for Remnant. A future free of the gods.”

“Then why? Why all of the destruction? Why did you try to swarm Vale with Grimm?” It did sound like the gods were pretty terrible, and that it would be better not to have them around.

“Ever since we fought, Ozma has had absolute control over all four relics. If the world were ever unified, he would have united them and brought about the gods return. So I divided it. I sowed war, chaos, and destruction in the name of freedom and survival. Destroying Vale would buy the world more time, but it would also allow me to obtain the Crown of Choice. For you see, Ozma’s current incarnation is none other than Headmaster Ozpin, and the four relics are secured within each of the four huntsman’s academies.” Salem tilted Ruby’s chin up to face her. “And you have the potential to be my greatest ally. If you refuse, you and those you love will die.”

Ruby flinched at the threat. It really did mean something. Salem was probably the most powerful person in the world, she could probably do it, if she had nearly destroyed Vale. “I... don’t disagree with you about the gods. They sound horrible, but all I know for sure is that what you’re doing right now is wrong, and I’ll never help you with that.”

“Don’t you understand? By helping me you will be saving so many lives.” Salem spoke slowly, as if to a child. “With a trusted agent inside of Beacon, I wouldn’t need to cause mass destruction to obtain the relic. I could steal it without shedding a single drop of blood, and then Remnant would be safe. My victory is inevitable, but you have the power to choose whether that victory is bloodless, or requires the sacrifice of an entire kingdom.” 

“You really wouldn’t hurt anyone?” Ruby bit her lower lip, deep in thought. Maybe it would be better? Maybe she could prevent two tragedies at once?

“No one.” Salem nodded, a soft smile growing on her face. “All I ask is that you serve me.”

“That’s...” Ruby trailed off, on the brink. “No. That’s not right. I can’t trust you, and it doesn’t matter. Ozpin will stop you, and if not him then the others can. We’ve already done it once, there was a warning about the train and I’m sure that backup got there in time to protect most of the city. They’ll stop you again, even without me.” She set her jaw. 

“Oh really?” Salem sighed heavily, as if disappointed. “You think that your little friends can succeed where your own mother failed?”

It was like being punched in the gut, but a million times worse. Ruby doubled over, suddenly gasping for breath. What was Salem saying? Did she know what had happened to her mom?

“Did I not mention the reason why I’m presenting you with this generous opportunity? You see, your mother tried to come into my domain and kill me herself, knowing only a portion of what I have told you. When she understood that she was defeated, her dying words were a plea that I not hurt you.” Salem’s voice was reluctant, as if she hadn’t wanted to say this.

“No.” Ruby's voice barely squeaked out. That couldn’t be it. Summer was the best huntress and the best mom of them all, she couldn’t have been killed by Salem, not like that. “You’re lying!” Her body was wracked with violent, heaving sobs. It can’t be like that. It can’t.

“It’s okay.” Salem pulled Ruby into a hug that she didn’t have the strength to escape from. “You can still protect the lives around you. You can still work with me, and save all who remain. All you have to do is trust me.” Her words of comfort trickled gently into Ruby’s mind and sent a shiver down her spine.

“I-” Ruby didn’t want to betray everyone. She didn’t want herself or them to die either. But... if the best huntress in the world has failed against Salem, what could she possibly do? It was the only way. She cried in Salem’s embrace, and something broke. “Okay.” There wasn’t any hope, so whatever saved the most people would be for the best. “I’ll do what you say.”

“Good girl. You’ve made the right choice.” Salem practically purred the words into Ruby’s ear. “Now, there is something I have specially prepared, just for the day when someone like you joined me. Come.” She stood up and carried Ruby as she glided through the seemingly empty castle, down hallways and staircases, and beyond, into the land of Darkness itself. She brought Ruby to the side of an ominously bubbling pit of what appeared to be the ooze from which Grimm were born, and stood her on her feet. “Strip.”

“What?” Ruby stared blankly at Salem, completely confused by this turn of events. 

Rather than answer, Salem snapped her fingers, and an invisible force stripped Ruby of her clothes in a matter of seconds. “Face the pool.”

Ruby complied as quickly as she dared, so near to what seemed to be pure destruction. She didn’t want to be too slow and get turned around by force and risk losing her balance. It was also a relief to stand at an angle at which Salem couldn’t see her exposed front. 

“Good girl.” Suddenly, Salem was purring intimately into Ruby’s ear, and her hands were slowly trailing over her body. “Now, I must prepare the catalyst. All you need do is enjoy yourself.”

“O-okay.” Ruby groaned as a surprisingly warm and soft hand tweaked her nipple. She closed her eyes, doing her best to forget where she was and imagine that she was being touched by Weiss. Embraced by Pyrrha. Teased to arousal by anyone but her mother’s murderer. 

“That’s it. Just relax. Simply do as I say, and you will find salvation, as well as pleasure beyond your wildest dreams. All you need to do is obey.” Salem wrapped her hand around Ruby’s shaft and began to lightly stroke it, making her hips buck forward needily. 

“I just want everyone to be happy and safe.” Ruby gasped as Salem bit her neck, not quite hard enough to bruise. A hand pinched her nipple, hard. “Ah!” As much as she didn’t really like the person touching her, the pleasure and pain kept building up within her, drawing her nearer with every stroke of her cock. 

“And they will be.” Salem peppered kisses along the side of Ruby’s neck, then bit her earlobe at the same time that she tightened her grip. “Now come.”

Ruby spasmed and thrust forward one last time as she came, her entire body shuddering as a few drops of clear, thin come leaked from her head and fell into the pool below. Her legs slackened and she instinctively fell back, trying to cuddle up to Salem while her mind was still foggy with aftershocks. 

“Now, you fall.” Salem pushed Ruby forward, into the Grimm pool. 

It was like sinking, except that Ruby found she could breathe freely through her nose, as if her entire body wasn’t submerged in warm black ooze. The ooze clung to her entire body, almost as if it was caressing her. It trickled into her mouth ever so slightly, covering her tongue in a sweet, salty taste, like chocolate chips with just the right amount of salt. She opened her mouth without meaning to and what felt like a tendril shoves in, stretching her mouth open and giving her more of that delicious flavor. Something about it was impossibly intoxicating, and it clouded her head as she gulped it down. 

The ooze also pressed against her rear, a well lubricated tendril gently pressing up against the entrance and slowly pushing its way in. It expanded as it entered, filling her ass and stimulating every spot it passed. Ruby tried to grind her ass further onto it, but she didn’t think she could actually move amidst the black ooze. 

Both tendrils slid farther down Ruby’s throat and up her ass than she had ever thought possible. Then they started thrusting. More ooze kept trickling down her throat, and she was happy to swallow, each drop intensifying the pleasure of being fucked. 

_**Open your eyes.** _

Ruby was compelled to obey, too lost and too close to another, even better orgasm to think about how she should probably resist what the apparently sentient pool of Grimm tells her to do. It was like her eyes were made of lead, and every instinct in her body screamed at her to keep them shut, but she wanted more, wanted to obey, and a small part of her still reminded her that she had to cooperate or else.

The slightest crack in her eyelids appeared and the tendrils thrust themselves into her one last time, bringinher to another climax, her vision turning almost silver as she shuddered. Her entire body went limp as she came back down, and she felt ready to sleep even though her eyes felt like they were still open. There was a strange itching sensation that crawled and faintly burned over the skin just above her crotch. 

There was a sensation like something touching her eyeball, and Ruby fell asleep.

###### 

“There you go, such a good girl.” Someone’s hands were gently exploring Ruby’s slightly sore body, prodding and stroking her clothed form affectionately.

“Mmm?” Ruby opened her eyes blearily. She felt tired, like she hadn’t eaten in a while. The room around her was unfamiliar, though it looked like a bedroom, albeit a very ominous, Grimm-themed bedroom. Smiling down at her was Salem, a fresh reminder of her mother’s death, more than anything else. “Go away.” She tried to crawl out of Salem’s arms, but was instead held more tightly.

“Now, now, have you forgotten that you agreed to become my agent? I haven’t even given you your instructions yet.” Salem’s voice tinted with the slightest hint of anger, and Ruby stopped moving, cowed. “That’s better.” Her voice turned as sweet as honey. “Now, your body has been subtly altered. You must keep these alterations hidden from anyone who is not already under your influence. Soon, I will have you sent to a minor White Fang base of operations, where you will be rescued by your professors. Once you have infiltrated Beacon, you must simply wait, and claim that you spent the entire time you were captured in that base. Once the changes are complete, I will contact you and provide further instructions. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am.” Ruby had a sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to be told exactly what was changing, or what Salem meant by others being under her influence. As she complied though, a small part of her felt strangely happy. Satisfied with her obedience. She did her best to ignore how strangely good it made her feel, like the rush of eating an entire tray of cookies.

“Good girl.” Salem’s words of affirmation sent another subtle rush of pleasure through Ruby, despite her wish that they wouldn’t. “Remember, all you have to do is follow my instructions, and not only will the lives of thousands be saved, but you will be bountifully rewarded for your service to me.” 

“However,” Salem’s hand hovered threateningly over Ruby’s throat, her voice turning sharp, “should you attempt to resist, having already agreed to work for me, you will suffer. Should you somehow succeed in resistance, all that you love will be destroyed, rather than saved.” Her hand tailed up Ruby’s cheek, and she patted Ruby’s head. “So, ensure that you do as I say.”

Ruby nodded wordlessly, eyes wide with fear. What had she gotten herself into?

“And before you leave, have this.” Salem put something tattered and white into Ruby’s arms. “Consider it a gift, and a promise.”

“What...” Ruby trailed off. It was a cloak. White, lined with red on the inside, tattered and faded from years. “My mom’s cloak?”

“Yes.”

###### 

“Ruby!” Someone in the distance was shouting Ruby’s name, too distant for her to tell who.

She’d been tossed into an empty storage room and tied up, the door was reinforced enough that she couldn’t break through, and the only sign that she wasn’t alone was the sound of fighting that grew increasingly near. It was probably the Beacon faculty, Salem had said that they would come for her. She hugged Summer’s cloak to her chest, and waited.

“Ruby!” It seemed like it might have been Yang calling for her, and she was definitely closer this time.

“Yang?” Ruby shouted back. Her voice cracked, not because she wasn’t physically well, but because she was beginning to imagine Yang’s reaction to the cloak swaddled in her arms.

“Ruby!” Yang’s voice sounded close this time. There was gunfire, and then the door burst open, revealing a burning golden mane of hair. “Ruby!” She ran forward and scooped Ruby up in a crushing hug. When the hug was over she noticed that Ruby’s hands were bound, and snapped the rope with her bare hands.

“Yang.” Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her sister back as best she could, trying to hide her tears. It had only been a few days since they’d been separated in the train crash, but it felt like so much longer. 

“What’s wrong? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Yang’s question was a protective growl.

“No.” Ruby shook her head. “It’s...” She held the cloak in her arms and showed it to Yang. “Mom.”

“What?” Yang’s anger drained away, replaced with shock and grief that mirrored Ruby’s own.

“It’s hers.” Ruby sobbed again. “Her murderer gave it to me. She was gloating, and she threatened me.”

“It’s okay, Ruby. You’re safe now. I’ve got you. Come on, let’s get out of here.” Yang started to walk out of the door, but someone appeared in her way.

“Is she hurt?” Ozpin stepped into the doorway, suddenly blocking their exit. “I need to see to her health immediately.”

“Stay back!” Yang hissed and turned to the side, putting her body between Ozpin and Ruby in an act of protection. 

“Miss Xiao Long!” Ozpin seemed like he was about to insist, but a glyph appeared under his feet and pulled him out of Yang’s line of sight.

“If she doesn’t want you in there, you don’t need to be in there.” Weiss’ voice brazenly admonished the professor from somewhere out of sight.

“Let’s go.” Ruby nodded and wrapped her arms around Yang’s neck, letting her sister carry her away from the lingering fighting between hunters and White Fang. 

The trip itself was a haze, defined only by Yang’s comforting presence and their shared sense of loss. Blake and Weiss stayed nearby as well, doing what they could, but neither of them really understood what exactly they were going through. Ruby insisted that she was fine whenever approached by a paramedic. Showing that her aura was still intact was enough to drive them off for the moment, though they were probably going to make her go to counseling.

“You were fed, right? You’ve been eating something?” Yang didn’t realize that she needed to ask that particular until they were on the airship back to Beacon. 

“I’m not hungry.” Ruby told the truth as best she knew it. She didn’t remember eating anything, but she wasn’t even sure exactly how long she was missing. For some reason she felt fine in that regard. Hopefully it wasn’t because of whatever she had swallowed in the Grimm pool.

Oh. Right. That. Had that even really happened? It felt almost like a dream, except that Ruby never even remembered her dreams when she woke up, and she still had the cloak. So, yeah. Probably real. She was a traitor now.

“I’ll get food for all of us and take it to the room when we get back, just in case.” Blake volunteered herself for the duty.

“Thanks.” Yang nodded gratefully to her partner. It was starting to seem like she wasn’t going to let go of Ruby for a long time, not that Ruby was against that.

“How long was I gone?” Ruby had wrapped Summer’s cloak around herself and Yang. It was good to have a little piece of her mom back, even if it did make the way that everything else was missing even more obvious.

“You don’t know?”

“They just kept me in the one room. It’s not like I have a regular sleep schedule without any clocks.” The lie slipped from Ruby’s lips on instinct, without the slightest deliberate thought or consideration. Obviously she had to tell it, since she couldn’t admit that she had been taken to the place where a god had once dwelled and met Salem. It was weird though, she was a terrible liar.

“Four days, but it felt like a lot longer. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.” Yang ran her hands through Ruby’s hair for the thousandth time that day. Once again, Ruby had no objections, she needed the comfort, after everything. Especially Salem’s threats.

“Okay.” Ruby wondered how exactly she was different now, aside from being about to betray her mentors and friends. Even if it was the right thing to do, which seemed really uncertain after that strange process, she didn’t think it would stop bothering her until it ended, and everyone was hopefully safe.


	2. You Mesmerize Slowly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be slightly meta and no one can possibly stop me

“Hi, Professor.” Ruby greeted Ozpin nervously as she stepped into his intimidatingly large office. She really didn’t want to have this conversation right now, but she’d been putting it off and making excuses for the last day since she had gotten rescued, and there wasn’t really a good reason why she shouldn’t want to go. After all, it was supposed to be for the sake of helping her.

“Welcome Miss Rose, please, have a seat.” Ozpin gestured to the chair right in front of his desk. He slid a mug of hot chocolate in front of Ruby as she sat down. “There’s no need to be nervous, I promise. We’re only here to talk about what you’re comfortable with.”

“Right.” Ruby fixed her gaze on the mug, not really daring to look at Ozpin.

“Now, I understand that this may be difficult for you, but would you please tell me everything that happened, from your separation from your team to your rescue?” Professor Ozpin’s voice was gentle, in that same forced way Ruby remembered Tai’s voice being when he told her about her mom’s disappearance.

“When the train breached I got knocked up more than the others and separated. Torchwick and his friend found me, and they knocked me out.” Ruby hesitated. She had no idea where to go from there. A part of her considered coming clean about everything and doing her best to stop Salem’s plans.

_Speak a little truth with many lies._

“Ahhhh.” Ruby groaned and held her head in her hands, sudden pain permeating through her in tandem with Salem’s voice.

“Are you okay?” Ozpin made as if to pick up his scroll. “Should I end this and call a nurse?”

“No!” Ruby gulped. Was that what Salem had meant by punishment? “I just have a little headache from not drinking enough water. It’s no big deal.” The claim was probably convincing enough, there were still streaks running down her face from all the crying she had been doing, and her mouth was definitely dry.

“If you are sure.” Ozpin nodded, and gestured to the chocolate. “But if you would like to wait I would understand.”

“It’s fine. After that I woke up in that same room that you found me in. The only things that happened after that was that they gave me a little bit of food and water, and the woman who talked to me. It was boring, aside from that.” Ruby cautiously sipped at her chocolate, then gulped down half the mug.

“What about your... refuse?” Ozpin’s question made Ruby internally panic. She had no idea whether Salem had thought to cover that up somehow.

_Never tell a secret with your eyes, it’s the eyes that let you down._

This time Salem’s voice slipped into Ruby’s head like a soothing voice, calming her with its wisdom. She felt strong, and capable, even as she feigned discomfort. “That’s gross, and I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Of course, my apologies.” Ozpin drank from his mug to cover up the awkward silence. “What did you say about a woman who spoke with you?”

“The woman who gave me mom’s cloak. She brought it as proof that she’d killed her, and she bragged about it and threatened me.” Ruby didn’t have to lie about that, or to fake the deeply rooted pain in her heart. “She said that if I didn’t work with her everyone I care about would die.”

“What was her name?” Ozpin was leaning forward in his seat, his eyes wide. “Can you tell me about what she looked like.”

“She said her name was Salem.”

“And her appearance?”

In the moment that followed, Ruby saw an opportunity. If Ozpin knew what Salem looked like, that could confirm a small part of her tale. If all of what Salem had told her was true, it really might be a good thing to work against Ozpin. “You wouldn't believe me.”

“Was her skin deathly white and crawling with vile red veins, and her eyes almost like those of a Grimm?”

“Yes.” Ruby didn’t fake her surprise. Ozpin knew something, that much was certain. “What is she?”

“An enemy of humanity, and a force of nature, much like the Grimm. It is incredibly important that you don’t tell anyone about who or what she is. And now that she knows of your existence, you will be in greater danger when you leave Beacon, though until you do I can assure you that I personally do everything in my power to protect my students and she will not harm you.” Ozpin probably intended to be reassuring, but Ruby didn’t really think that she believed him, even if she weren’t at risk of being mentally hurt at any moment if she tried to turn on Salem.

“I told Yang about her and mom, but I didn’t mention her name or the weird bits.” Ruby nodded. 

“There is one last thing that I find curious. Why were you allowed to keep the cloak?” Ozpin gave no information away, his entire countenance stayed as neutral and distant as it ever was. Another question Ruby didn’t have a good answer for.

_Tell him that I did it to send a message, and to make a promise._

“To send a message, and as a promise.”

“What message, what promise?”

“Well, I think the cloak is supposed to be the thing that conveys that, you know?” Ruby shrugged helplessly. “I don’t really get it, I’m not great at literary analysis and intrigue and that kind of stuff.”

“I see, well, thank you for sharing this with me. If you should remember anything else about the White Fang or anything Salem said that you think could be useful in opposing them, please tell me.” Ozpin dismissed her with a subtle inclination of his head.

“Alright.” Ruby nodded. She would do no such thing, that much was certain. If Salem could hurt her that much for trying to expose her, there didn’t seem to be much she could do at all. She really was unbeatable.

###### 

That night Ruby found herself unable to do much of anything. She sat with Summer’s cloak in her lap, staring at it blankly and lost in thought. She’d asked Coco to mend it, and it was cleaner, less tattered, though it was still obvious that it had been damaged, then neglected for some time. Her old red cloak was gone, she’d thrown it away. This one would be the one she wore now, as a reminder that she couldn’t possibly win against Salem. That her victory was inevitable, so Ruby was doing the right thing by helping her.

“Are you alright?” Weiss had been especially nice for the last day, obviously careful in recognition of what had happened to Ruby, even though she had made it clear that nothing really terrible had happened while she was confined.

“Not really. But I haven’t been for a long time, so...” Ruby shrugged. She had been doing so well, too. It had been so long since she had secretly stayed up late into the night, crying. She really needed to get back to focusing on living and doing what needed to be done, although she didn’t have any clear instructions yet, other than to wait. “It’s nothing new, or special. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“That just makes me worry even more.” Weiss sighed. “Yang isn’t the only one who was scared when you disappeared, you know.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize you dolt, it isn’t as if it’s your fault you got captured.” Weiss rolled her eyes, feigning lightheartedness.

“Sor-right. Goodnight Weiss.” Ruby yawned, stretching her arms above her head in a way that made her tank top ribe up her belly a little bit.

“Wait, what’s that?” Weiss peered intently at Ruby’s torso.

“What’s what?” Ruby promptly lowered her arms.

“Do you have a tattoo or something? I thought that I saw some black ink on your belly.” Weiss inquired, then suddenly flushed red. “Not that I was staring at your belly or your abs in particular or anything.”

“Nah, of course I don’t have a tattoo. Yang would kill me if I tried, especially in a spot like that, geez.” Ruby laughed off Weiss’ question, only for something to click in her head. Salem had said to hide the changes. Was there some sort of magical mark on her belly now? She’d have to check without being observed.

“I see. Must have simply been a trick of the light.” Weiss nodded.

“Yeah.” Conversation over, Ruby got up and went to the bathroom. Inside, she pulled up her shirt, then slid down the waistband of her pajamas. Sure enough, centered just above her crotch was a complex black emblem of an eye, presumably Salem’s emblem. It was in the same place as the itching on her skin had been in the Grimm pool.

As Ruby ran her fingers across it she felt... something. That strange sensation of her aura trying to communicate something. She flared it, and just over the tattoo was a small patch of pure, Grimm-like black that now seemed to be part of her aura. There was no way she was getting out of this deal.

Just in case, Ruby stripped and checked her body for other marks or changes as best should with the bathroom’s sink-height mirror. She didn’t find anything else that was different until she looked at her face. Her eyes were black and glowing red, just like Salem’s. Then she blinked, and they were back to being silver, like they were supposed to be.

“Oh man.” Ruby sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn’t going to be a fun semester.

###### 

Two weeks passed. Ruby got back into the familiar pattern of schoolwork, training, and practice. If it weren’t for the tattoo above her crotch, she would almost think that everything was normal again, and that there really wasn’t anything important that had happened after the breach.

Just as a faint hope that Salem didn’t have anything to ask of her was beginning to blossom, Ruby had a dream. She was back in Salem’s castle, in the royal bedroom, and her head was in Salem’s lap.

“I’m pretty sure I’m asleep, but I’m guessing this isn’t a dream.” Ruby sighed. She had dreaded this. The part where she was probably going to start actively working against the school. Although, come to think of it, it was sort of weird that she had had to get fucked by Grimm tentacles to be able to communicate with Salem remotely. Or maybe Salem was just a pervert, she didn’t like to judge.

“Oh good, it is excellent to know that I will not have to deal with any unnecessary prattling about how this is not a dream but an induced vision used as a means of undetectable communication.” Salem groaned, her voice contemptuous, though that contempt was at least directed at others. “Do you know how many people who I’ve visited in their sleep have attempted to simply write me off as hallucination? So many. It is incredibly tiring.”

“Okay.” Ruby blinked. That was not what she had expected, although she wasn’t really sure what she had expected. More sex, maybe? That would be nice. Wait, no, bad Ruby, don’t be okay with having sex with the woman who killed your mom just because she’s hot.

“Usually Faunus are the only ones smart enough to be able to get to the point before they exit REM sleep the first night.” Salem kept rambling, nearly oblivious to Ruby’s confusion. “And don’t even get me started on Atlesians this past century.”

“Why are you talking to me like this when you can also do whatever that telepathy thing you did with Ozpin was?” Ruby interrupted as gently as she could in an attempt to get to the point. Wait, no, getting to the point would probably be a bad thing. Damnit.

“We have matters of great pitch and circumstance to discuss, and an approximately face-to-face meeting is necessary.” Salem contemplatively swirled a glass of wine that Ruby hadn’t seen her pick up. “The changes to your body are complete, and thus it is time to begin amassing allies, even if your mind is yet to fully enter the fold.”

“Are you implying that my mind is going to be changed somehow?” Ruby grimaced. That sounded seriously messed up, especially if it was why the Grimm ooze had been involved.

“In a sense. My primary meaning is that I am aware of your lingering reluctance to perform what you see as a betrayal. The physiological changes will only serve to increase your libido and amplify whatever desires you already possess, as well as reducing your inhibitions. The rest is up to you, though I intend to personally see to it that you find the ability to enjoy my gift within yourself.” Salem smirked as she sipped her wine. It left behind a strangely attractive red stain on her lips.

“What is this gift, exactly? Does it have something to do with the tattoo and the black spot on my aura? And there was one time that I thought my eyes were like yours.” Ruby shuddered. She had always had a tendency to avoid looking in mirrors or looking people in the eye, and lately that tendency had been heavily reinforced by seeing that in the mirror. “What’s happening to me?” 

“It’s quite simple, really. You have become the host and incubator of a very small amount of pure Grimm essence, from which you now have the ability to produce more of and spread that essence.” 

“What?!” Ruby squeaked, her eyes widening. “That sounds like it’s just going to kill me and everyone around me!”

“Which is why I specifically required a silver-eyed warrior on which to perform this experiment.” Ruby had the strange suspicion that Salem was disappointed in her. “You have an innate degree of resistance to the creatures of Grimm, enough to allow you to maintain your sanity and life through this process, as well as dilute the essence, or at the very least bend it to your will such that it does not kill anything it infests in sufficient quantity.”

“What’s so special about silver eyes?” Ozpin had said that about her when they first met, hadn’t he? He’d specifically mentioned her eyes.

“You no longer have the power, but they are capable of destroying the creatures of Grimm with a single glance, literally. If you should ever meet one, you must ensure that they do not use this power on you, or you will risk burning away the essence within you. The consequences of such an occurrence would be... severe. Death, if you are lucky.” Salem seemed completely nonchalant as she explained. “Though the chances of such are incredibly low. I’ve exterminated most silver-eyed warriors already, over the millennia.”

“Like my mom.” Ruby muttered angrily.

“Yes.” Salem sighed. “Though it’s not as if I was seeking her death. She went out of her way to seek me out, thus inviting death upon herself.”

“You still could have spared her, unless you aren’t really all that powerful.” Ruby scoffed.

Salem’s hand closed around Ruby’s throat without warning, tight enough to stop her from breathing. She leaned in close and stared at Ruby, her eyes glowing dangerously. “I could kill you for that. Unfortunately, for as long as you comply you are too valuable to dispose of.” She let go and turned her back on Ruby as she coughed and got used to breathing again.

Ruby rubbed her neck and sulked, too cowed and hurt to say anything else.

“Anyway, what you must do now is spread the Grimm to others. The most important target is Pyrrha Nikos, Ozpin will choose her as the next maiden, should he have an opportunity to do so.” Salem continued talking with the expectation that Ruby would pay attention.

“You’re doing a really bad job of convincing me to like working with you, you know.” Ruby crossed her arms defensively and watched Salem. She really didn’t want to get attacked again.

“That will continue to be your opinion until you stop obsessing over Summer Rose.”

“Obsessing!” Ruby couldn’t take it anymore, and she shouted at Salem. “You killed my mom when I was five! I have a fucking right to be mad at you! You destroyed my entire life!”

“Destroyed?” Salem slowly raised a single eyebrow.

“You know what I mean! You have no idea how much it hurt, how lost I was! So shut up and stop trying to excuse what you did!”

“I have no idea what loss is like?” Salem remained almost scarily calm. “I have experienced the loss of an entire world, and the loneliness of millenia.”

Ruby scowled. “Well, you don’t act like it bothers you. So I can only conclude you’re heartless after it. Or maybe you already were before it.”

“That isn’t true.” Salem’s mask cracked just the slightest bit.

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“The associates that I tend to attract to my side cannot be controlled without the application of force, and the inspiration of fear. There are few exceptions, and my persona has developed in response to that.” Salem closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “If you claim that you will react positively to a more gentle hand, I will attempt to provide that influence.”

“I almost thought that you were okay when we met in person, you know.” Ruby spoke quietly. She didn’t want to be in conflict with Salem, partially because she didn’t want to get hurt again, but also because she just didn’t like conflict with people in general.

“I see.” Salem moved sideway on the bed and raised an arm in a way that seemed to invite Ruby to lean against her. “You wish for comfort, then?”

“Well, yeah.” Ruby looked at Salem apprehensively, her lips pursed. She was tempted, despite all of her conflicting feelings. In the end, her neediness won out and she slipped into Salem’s embrace, resting her head against the taller woman’s chest. It did make her feel safe, even if she knew that it probably wasn’t the best way to accomplish that.

“Good girl.”

Ruby shuddered, letting the words of praise embrace her like a compress. Had she always been this easy to sway? Probably. She wasn’t used to being freely given affection like this, except with Yang, but that was an entirely different kind of affection.

“Is this acceptable?” Salem looked almost happy as she asked, enough that Ruby wondered if she might actually care about her.

“Yeah.” Ruby smiled as she nuzzled up to Salem. She was probably being manipulated, but she couldn’t resist. The more hurt she felt the more she felt the need for comfort.

“It is time we discussed your next move in detail then. In order to influence a target to our side, you will need to find means of exposing them to your bodily fluids over time. Doing so will connect their mind to yours in a manner similar to how we are connected, as well as the same kinds of changes that you are experiencing or will experience. The greater the dose the more quickly it progresses, though as subtlety is the most important element, I expect you to do this gradually unless you are in immediate danger of discovery.” Every word Salem spoke sent pleasant little vibrations through Ruby’s body.

“I have to change them? Against their wills? That’s horrible, I can’t do that.” Ruby blanched.

“You recall the alternative, yes?”

“I... yeah.” Ruby sighed. It didn’t feel like she could resist anyway. “It won’t hurt them, right?”

“It may if you perform the entire process at once, but if well executed, they will never realize that anything is wrong. And no matter how the process plays out, I believe that they will be happy with the results.”

“You believe?”

“This is an entirely new and unique phenomenon, there is always a degree of risk.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Ruby sighed. “So how should I do this stuff then?”

“If you were to date one of them, you could expose them to your saliva when you kiss, however that would only allow you to alter a single target. You will simply need to find ways to dose their food or water with saliva or cum. Your cum will likely have more pronounced effects, and be available in plentiful quantity by this point.” 

“Is that why it’s been getting less clear and almost nonexistent anymore, even though I’m still on HRT?” Ruby buried her ethical concerns with the other ones she had and focused on her curiosity.

“Yes. Once others are fully corrupted their fluids will be effective as well, allowing for potential exponential growth, though I do not intend to become careless in distributing this gift.” Salem placed her hand over Ruby’s eyes. “Now, it is almost time for you to awake, but before we separate you must know that I expect Ozma will already be suspicious of you. Not because your performance or your lies were flawed, but simply because he suspects everyone, especially his allies. You must be incredibly careful not to be caught.”

“Okaaa...” Ruby’s response morphed into a yawn, and she receded back into normal sleep.

###### 

“Who’s ready for another awesome day of being team RWBY!” Ruby woke her team in the same way she had every weekday for the entire school year, with excited shouting and a flurry of rose petals. 

“Rubyyyy, it’s Saturday. You don’t need to get us up for class.” Yang groaned, burying her face in her pillow. “Let me sleeeeep.”

“Oh,” Ruby lowered her voice to a whisper immediately, “sorry.” She’d forgotten what day it was, mostly because of her discussion with Salem. Instead, her thoughts were occupied with lingering questions about what exactly was going on, and the beginnings of what she could only describe as schemes. Even if she still half intended to try to delay doing what Salem was asking of her, when she was presented with a challenge she naturally came up with plans to fulfill that challenge. It was part of her leader skills. 

Ruby left her teammates to wallow in as much sleep as they wanted and instead claimed the first shower of the day. She had some experimentation to do, after all. 

She brought her razor with her into the shower. It had been a while since she’d last shaved, and she probably had a while before anyone started rushing her about finishing up quickly. Once the water was nice and warm she took a seat and started with her armpits. Except that when she checked them, they weren’t hairy at all. Not even the little bit of hair she couldn’t shave them closely enough to get rid of was there. 

“Neat.” Ruby looked over the rest of her body, and just as she suspected her other body hair was gone as well. Even from her arms, where it was too thin and the angle too awkward for her to ever bother shaving. The whole Grimm thing seemed to be at least nudging her body towards the kind of form she wanted. “Thanks Salem.” She muttered under her breath, just in case Salem could hear her. 

_You are welcome, though I cannot claim that this was particularly deliberate._ Salem’s voice conveyed a feeling of distant amusement as it slipped into Ruby’s head. 

“Are you just going to be constantly around in my head now?” Ruby didn’t really want Salem living rent free in her head if she could help it. 

_No, you deliberately attempted to communicate with me, which drew my attention._

“Oh. Okay, bye for now then.” Ruby almost waved at the shower wall as she hopefully sent Salem away. She still had something private to take care of after all. Although, the thought of Salem watching her, or even guiding her...

“No. Bad Ruby. She still killed your mom.” Ruby scolded herself for the second time in a disappointingly short while. This business was definitely making her hornyier than normal, something that was making itself very apparent in the form of her already hard cock. Almost shyly, she turned her back to the warm shower spray and reached down to touch herself.

“Mmm.” Ruby groaned as she wrapped her fingers around herself. It felt somehow more intense than usual, fuzzed her head pleasantly. She was so sensitive every touch made her knees nearly buckle with pleasure. In her mind she pictured Salem, without her elegant black robe and straddling Ruby’s lap. Her free hand slipped into her mouth and she sucked on two of her fingers, imagining that they too belonged to Salem. 

There was such an obvious element of maternity about Salem. She’d told Ruby that her children had died, and her attitude when they’d spoken had briefly felt almost motherly, or at least the way that Ruby imagined a mother being. Maybe that was why Ruby was so turned on as she touched herself with Salem in mind, although that was probably a bad thing in it’s own way. She really was saying probably a lot lately, wasn’t she?

Ruby bucked her hips one last time as she came, ropes of thick cum shooting from her cock this time, instead of just a squirt. For a moment her mind blanked completely, engulfing her in the best feeling of her life.

“Hurry up in there!” All of a sudden, Yang banged on the door. “It’s been more than twelve hours since I last shampooed my hair!”

“J-just give me some time!” Ruby shouted back, incredibly relieved that she had developed a habit of masturbating quietly as a result of living in the same room as three other people. She looked around, desperately in a hurry to clean up after herself. There shouldn’t be that much, but then she saw it. There was thick cum splattered across the tile wall in front of her, and it wasn’t even washing away in the slight spray of the shower. 

“Hurry up before I bust in myself!” Yang threatened, and Ruby knew that she meant it from long experience.

“I’m hurrying!” Ruby panicked, and she started trying to scoop up the cum and wash it down the drain, but that wasn’t enough. She covered her mouth with her hand worriedly, getting a whiff of it in the process, and blinked. It smelled delicious. Amazing. Her gaze turned to the tile, eyes wide. She could clean it off with her tongue, and that way no one would notice what she had done.

Cautiously, she lapped at the remains of her cum. It tasted better than it smelled, almost like cream. She was going to slip it to everyone else, wasn’t she? They would love it so much! She lapped it up. More, faster. When she couldn’t get any more from the wall she licked her hand clean too. And now she was horny again, but Yang was waiting. 

In a rush Ruby finished her shower and threw her clothes back on, careful that they were completely covering her tattoo. “AlrightI’mdonebye!” She rushed out of the bathroom, not daring to look at Yang as a sudden rush of embarrassment overcame her.

“Sure.” Yang shook her head and quickly claimed the bathroom for herself.

Ruby promptly decided to do what she always did when she needed to seriously worry over the way that her life is going. Jump in bed and swaddle herself in blankets.

What the heck? Okay, so the cum, that was admittedly pretty hot, and there wasn’t anything wrong with her being into that, but oh geez the rest wasn’t exactly great. She really shouldn’t be excited about the idea of tricking people into ingesting her Grimm infested cum, even if it _did_ taste really good.

Except that she had to do it to them, of course. To save their lives. Why couldn’t being in charge be more clear cut?

Okay, so what if she looked on the bright side of things? It would probably be a fun process for everyone involved. Eventually, at least, even if it wasn’t strictly consensual, which did definitely bother her. But, living was good. And so was killing the gods. She was a big fan of killing and dethroning the gods, which was Salem’s professed ultimate goal. And if this turned into some sort of big horny polypile that _would_ be pretty cool, and was admittedly the kind of thing she had always had a tendency to read gratuitous amounts of smut about.

Which, again, really not something she should be excited about, because she wasn’t doing this consensually. Fuck. It felt like she was slipping. Was she slipping? She shouldn’t have enjoyed herself at any point so far, should she have? No. Maybe she could get their consent? No, that would necessitate that she explain about Salem, which of course she couldn’t do because of the chance that they might say no.

Well, at the very least, she could treat everyone as well as possible. With all her love and affection. That... would just have to be enough to make up for it.


	3. Till I Can't Believe My Eyes

Thinking. There was so much thinking to be done. The order, the methods, a means of controlling her suddenly high libido and that of those she would be corrupting. Ruby needed to plan around all of that before she started, because she had no intention of only partially succeeding and causing a divide between her friends because she had only brought some of them to her side before being exposed. That would be unacceptable.

“Would you like to join us for tea?” Just as Ruby was about to start coming up with something, Weiss invited her out of her bed for tea. “You showered before you even had breakfast, didn’t you?”

Ruby poked her head out from under her blankets curiously. “Well, I don’t want to get in the way of your and Blake’s thing.” Weiss and Blake had been having tea together every morning since the start of the semester.

“No such thing, just come over here if you like actual tea.” Blake waved Ruby over.

“Of course I like actual tea,” Ruby put her hand over her heart as if she was offended, “Yang is the only one in the family who tolerates the existence of ice tea, much less drinks it, I promise.” 

“Well, that is a relief.” Weiss nodded approvingly at Ruby. “Come join us then.”

“You’re not just being nice Weiss because of the whole stuff where I got captured, right?” Ruby didn’t like the way that Weiss and Blake had tried to tread on eggshells around her when she had first gotten back. It was so awkward, even more so than interacting with people normally.

“Not at all.” Blake rolled her eyes. “We just like having you around, so get over here and join in with us, silly.”

“Alright.” Ruby smiled, and got up. A little break from ruminating couldn't hurt. She should enjoy her time with everyone while they were all still normal.

“Ruby, you’re crying.” Weiss frowned, and took one of Ruby’s hands in her own. “What’s wrong?”

“I am?” Ruby touched the corner of her eye with her free hand. It was damp. She clung tightly to Weiss’ hand. “I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Not yet.” Ruby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and did her best to pull herself together. “Anyway, uh, tea? Tea always makes me feel better.”

“Yeah. Milk and sugar?” Blake held up the offered condiments.

“Both please.” Ruby nodded and sat at the table, still holding Weiss’ hand.

“So where were we yesterday?” Blake grinned at Weiss as she handed Ruby her tea.

“I believe I was reminding you that market forces dictate price.” Weiss smiled back coyly.

Ruby proceeded to watch and listen as Weiss and Blake started discussing economics and political philosophy. Most of it just went over her head, up until the topic turned to disability.

“Actually, any system in which any portion of the population has no choice but to perform work or be denied access to their basic needs is inherently ableist.” Ruby piped in. “The idea of productivity being important and what gives people value to society is the basis of capitalism, and is completely ableist.”

“Huh?” Blake looked pleasantly taken aback.

“You know stuff about racism, I know stuff about ableism. Just out of necessity.” Ruby shrugged.

“I see. Well, thanks. I never actually thought about it from that point of view before.”

“I do find it difficult to argue with that position.” Weiss rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, you really ought to do something about that if you ever have a chance.” Ruby threw in her best attempt at converting Weiss to anarcho-communism.

“Do something about what, exactly?”

“Capitalism. It’s pretty shitty.” Ruby got up and put her tea in the sink. “Anyway, thanks for inviting me. I think I really needed that.” She had a good idea now, at least. One that she could work on later, when she had privacy.

“You should listen to your team leader.” Blake nodded approvingly, chuckling.

“Yeah, what she said.” Ruby threw on her cloak and her shoes. “I’m going to go for a run, see you later.”

###### 

Ruby didn’t go for a run. No, what she needed was the proper means to put her plans into motion with stealth and subtlety. Meaning, a way to store her cum, such that she could plant it in clever locations as quickly as possibly. 

Instead, Ruby went to one of the side laboratory buildings available for any class to use, where they didn’t really keep anything dangerous or important. The doors weren’t even locked, so she went in, grabbed a few empty test tubes with volume markings on their sides, and left. They should let her slip a controlled amount of their contents into whatever she happened to be near with ease, and would be easy to hide in the room or conceal anywhere on her own body. The stoppers would serve to keep their contents fresh, and to contain the scent as well.

Halfway back to the dorm, she broke down laughing against a tree. It was just too ridiculous. And nonsensically horny, though what was happening to her, only in terms of her body, was pretty hot. She’d be delighted if not for how she now had to entangle everyone else up in it.

“Hey Ruby, what are you laughing at?” Jaune showed up out of the blue and sat next to Ruby below the tree.

“It’s, uh... complicated.” Ruby rested her forehead on her palm, her laughter fading down. She had no idea what to even think. Her mood kept fluctuating wildly. “Weird stuff happening. There’s something I was just thinking about asking you though.”

“Well, ask away. You know me, I’m an open book.” Jaune smiled amicably.

“Do you know if Pyrrha might be bi?”

“Huh?” Jaune tilted his head, confused. “Why do you want to know?”

“Jauneeee, why do you think?” Ruby wondered, not for the first time, whether Jaune was completely uninterested in Pyrrha, or just had no clue that she obviously liked him.

“I really don’t know.”

“Dude, I like her.” Ruby rolled her eyes. She _did_ like Pyrrha, in a romantic sense, and basically all the other girls she was friends with too. Weird that that was probably an advantage now.

“Ohhhh. Well,” Jaune lowered his voice to a dramatic whisper, “I think she is.” He gave Ruby an excited thumbs up.

“Good. Gooood.” Ruby rubbed her hands together gleefully. Salem had said that she should hurry to take care of Pyrrha, and since they were on different teams, it would be hard to get to her. Unless of course they were dating. 

“You know you’re sort of giving off evil mastermind vibes right now.” Jaune grinned. “It’s pretty cool.”

“It is sort of fun?” Ruby half smiled. “It shouldn’t be fun. My head is so weird lately.” She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. She could get to Pyrrha like that, and use her proximity to her own team to get all of them at the same time. Which would include Yang. Oh shit, she hadn’t thought of that.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes and no. Mostly no.” Ruby sighed. “How much is saving someone’s life worth if they aren’t the same person anymore?”

“No one’s ever the same person they were the day before. Saving someone is still saving someone, even if they might get hurt or changed by it.” Jaune shrugged.

“Oh, yeah. That’s a good point.” Ruby perked up a little bit. “Thanks.”

“You know I’m always ready to give great advice.” Jaune grinned, and patted Ruby’s back.

“You are?” Ruby squinted at him, not really sure. “I don’t remember that ever happening.”

“But I... just did?” Jaune trailed off weakly.

“Sorry.” Ruby giggled. “I was just kidding. I’m gonna go concoct some more evil schemes.”

“Yeah, you go date my partner!” Jaune held up his hand and gave Ruby a high five.

”Yeah! I’m gonna do that!” Ruby internally pumped herself up, and fist pumped at the same time. She could just pretend that everything was normal for a while, since apparently things were going to progress slowly with corrupting everyone. It would be nice to have a chance to live an almost normal life before things got weird. Weirder.

###### 

Ruby hummed excitedly as she pulled the tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. These weren’t just any cookies, no, they were special secret cookies. She’d used just a small dollop of her own cum instead of salt, and these would be the tools she used to make sure that Pyrrha agreed to date her. Probably. If it was too slow a process she would still have a chance that Pyrrha’s mind would change later, or that she already was willing to date her.

It had been very enjoyable and very distracting to fill her test tubes yesterday. Her libido was way up too, if she could go at it twice in one day, and with the hefty volume of cum she was making now she wondered if she should be careful about dehydration. 

As the cookies cooled, Ruby didn’t take her eyes off of them for a moment. She couldn’t risk letting someone else have one. They all had to go to Pyrrha, even if she was tempted to snack a little bit as well. 

With a snap of her fingers, she realized that she should pour some milk for Pyrrha as well. She’d taken a quick moment to add cum to the jug of milk in the team fridge when no one was around, and she planned to keep doing so indefinitely. Every morning, Weiss and Blake had tea, and Yang had coffee. They all used milk in their beverages, though Ruby tried not to consider exactly what she was doing to her sister at the same time as her other teammates. She could only deal with so many moral quandaries and stressful problems at once.

She gathered the cookies into a tupperware once they were cool enough to avoid breaking and oozing over their container. They really did look like the best cookies she’d ever made.

“What’s this? You’re making cookies and not even touching them?” Yang said, and whistled. “Who’s the lucky girl who gets to date my baby sister?”

“Yangggg, when did you even come in.” Ruby groaned, if Yang had seen her secret ingredient there could be problems.

“Just now, when I opened the door.” Yang smirked. “I bet you were too busy thinking about a certain someone to notice, weren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Ruby blushed. She’d been thinking about Pyrrha alright.

Yang bobbed her head approvingly. “Good. Tell Weiss I said hi.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Well, it’s not like I’ve got any plans with Weiss. She’s off somewhere, I dunno what she’s doing.” 

“Then who are those cookies for?”

“Pyrrha. Why’d you assume they were for Weiss?”

“No reason.” Yang said, and took up whistling innocently, her hands clasped behind her back. “I’m gonna just go. People to see and such. Good luck with Pyrrha!”

“Okay.” Ruby shrugged, and finished putting the lid on the tupperware. She took it, and the glass of milk in her other hand, and then ended up standing in the middle of the hallway with no hands free to actually knock on team JNPR’s door. “Hmmm.” Maybe if she stared at the door intensely enough it would open on its own.

The door opened and for a very brief moment Ruby rejoiced in the awesome powers of telekinesis she had spontaneously developed. Then she noticed that Ren was standing directly in front of her with the door handle in his hand. “Hello Ruby.”

“Does this mean I don’t get any superpowers for selling my soul?” Ruby sighed. “Ugh, what a shitty Faustian bargain.”

“Come again?” Ren raised an eyebrow, the most emotion Ruby was ever able to recognise from him.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Ruby laughed in a way that she was worried might sound unhinged. “I’m just too gay to function. Where’s Pyrrha?”

“She’s in.” Ren nodded. “Do you mind...?”

“Oh, right, sorry.” Ruby stepped back, letting Ren out of the door. “I would have opened the door, but my hands are full. I wasn’t doing some sort of weird staring thing.”

“I can tell.” Ren winked, then made his way down the hall.

“Hey Pyrrha.” Ruby was bouncing with energy as she walked in, momentarily forgetting all about the way she had been scheming and that this was in fact a kind of trick.

“Hey Ruby, what’s that?” Pyrrha looked up from her desk curiously as Ruby came up. Behind her back, Jaune was furiously giving Ruby two encouraging thumbs up and a wide grin.

“I baked you some cookies.” Ruby held out the tupperware and the glass to Pyrrha with a nervous smile.

“Thank you.” Pyrrha accepted both objects with a grateful smile, and set the milk on her desk, then took off the lid. She took a bite of a cookie, and then had some milk to wash it down, and her eyes immediately lit up. “These are amazing!”

“Really?” Ruby rubbed the back of her neck nervously. She had been a little bit worried that they would taste funny to someone else.

“Yeah!” Pyrrha started to scoff down cookies and milk with almost as much gusto as Ruby did. “I can’t seem to stop eating them.”

“Well, I baked them for you because I wanted to ask youtobemygirlfriend.” Ruby blurted out the words at an increasingly fast pace, then took a deep breath. “Would my girlfriend?”

Pyrrha’s mouth opened for a moment, then closed. It almost seemed like her eyes were glossing over as she hesitated in her answer, a phenomenon that made Ruby wonder how exactly those milk and cookies were affecting her, and flood her with fresh guilt. 

“Yes.” Pyrrha smiled, but something about the smile unnerved Ruby, just for a little moment. Then she seemed back to normal. She stood up, and scooped Ruby up into a hug.

“Hella!” Ruby hugged back, although her excitement was a little bit hampered by worry over what exactly she had just done. Still, she did her best to ignore that, and just focus on how very muscular Pyrrha was, and her great hugging. 

Pyrrha grinned as she put Ruby down. “Can I kiss you?” When Ruby nodded, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Ruby’s in a short kiss that left her giddy.

Ruby let out a joyful whoop. “I have no idea what to do now!”

“Let’s go on a date soon.” Pyrrha smiled. “How about tomorrow evening? I’ll surprise you with the place.”

“Sure.” Ruby was very happy to let Pyrrha make the decisions, something she was always terrible at when it came to anything interpersonal. The lingering guilt at the back of her mind reminded her that this might not really be a choice on Pyrrha’s part, but she did her best to ignore it.

“Until then though,” Pyrrha picked Ruby up so that their faces were even, “got anything else on your mind?” She was so much taller than Ruby.

“Yes.” Ruby kissed Pyrrha again, feeling very small in her arms. They lingered a little bit longer that time, and something about the way Pyrrha kissed back felt hungrier, if restrained. This was going to be nice.

###### 

“Sooo...” Yang kept giving Ruby a knowing look every so often as they ate team dinner in the cafeteria with team JNPR. “How’s it going?”

“How’s what going? And we live together, so whatever you mean, why wouldn’t you know?” Ruby shrugged, playing coy even though she had spent half the meal holding Pyrrha’s hand under the table.

“We’re dating.” Pyrrha raised both of their hands above the table, a wide smile on her face. 

Reactions from the teams were varied, but mostly positive. Ren, Blake, and Jaune offered a polite round of applause, Yang high fived a random passerby, Nora whooped and hollered, but Weiss just stared distantly into her soup, not seemingly paying attention.

“Hey Weiss, are you okay?” Ruby reached out a hand to her partner, but Weiss abruptly stood up. 

“I have an appointment elsewhere.” Without looking at Ruby, Weiss stormed away from dinner, her food barely even touched and her demeanor icy. 

“I think I should go check on her.” Ruby started to stand up to do her leaderly duty, but Yang put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into her seat. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this. You just enjoy dinner with your new girlfriend.”

“But it’s my responsibility to make sure she’s okay.” Ruby tried to protest. 

“There’s nothing you can do to help this time Rubes, but really, I’ll take care of it. After all, good leaders know how to delegate when they need to.” Yang was giving her the kind of big sister look she had when she was serious about doing something for her. 

“Alright.” Ruby nodded, but she couldn’t look away from Yang until she had left the cafeteria. 

“She’ll be alright.” Pyrrha started gently rubbing up and down Ruby’s back.

“Yeah, but I still don’t like seeing people hurting, especially if I don’t know how to help.” Ruby sighed. 

“And that,” Pyrrha gently turned Ruby’s head to face her, “is one of the reasons why I like you.” She laid a quick peck on Ruby’s cheek and went back to her food, blushing slightly. Their intimacy had already drawn a bit of attention, and that sent murmurs sounding throughout the cafeteria. 

“Did you know that you liked me before today?” Ruby pursed her lips, suddenly insecure over just how real all of this was. 

“Well, I don’t think I really knew it, but I did without admitting it to myself.” Pyrrha paused contemplatively before continuing. “I was being sort of obsessive about Jaune, and it was distracting me.” 

“Huh.” Ruby didn’t really feel comforted by that answer. That could all still be something that was just implanted in her head by the fact that Ruby has basically drugged her. Wait, was that like drugging her? Oh no. No, no, what was she doing? This was horrible, she couldn’t keep doing this. 

“Ruby? Ruby, hey, calm down.” Pyrrha’s voice sounded distant, muffled. All Ruby could really hear was her own heartbeat.

A soft touch on her palm pulled Ruby back to reality, and she shuddered. Pyrrha was hold her hand carefully, proving a grounding point of contact. 

“Were you having a panic attack?” Pyrrha’s touch was as gentle as her words. “I’m sorry, did I trigger you somehow?” 

“No, it’s not your fault, there’s just some stuff that I’m really worried about.” Ruby sighed. She felt so tired, and now even more people were staring at her and Pyrrha. “I feel like I need to lay down for a little while.”

“Would you like for me to carry you back to your room?” Pyrrha held out her arms in offering. 

“Yes, please. I’d really appreciate that.” Ruby did her best to relax, although it felt like she was taking advantage of Pyrrha. She let Pyrrha scoop her up into a princess carry and nuzzled comfortably against her warm chest as they went back to their dorms. 

“Your scroll?” At Pyrrha’s prompting, Ruby remembered that she needed to open the door, so she did. Pyrrha gently set her down in her bunk, and then gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Well, I enjoyed having dinner with you.”

“Me too.” Ruby smiled, but she couldn’t manage to make it real. “I really did, I just can’t stop worrying about this one thing.”

“Do you want me to stay and we can talk about it?”

“Thanks, but I’m going to try sleeping on it first. It might be the kind of thing you just can’t really help with.” Ruby gave Pyrrha a little wave and another weak smile. 

“Alright.” Pyrrha nodded in understanding, and waved back. “Bye Ruby.” She left, leaving behind the same empty feeling that Ruby always felt when she was alone. 

In her loneliness and fear, Ruby turned to the only person left who she could really talk to. “Salem, can we talk again tonight? In my sleep like before?” 

There was a tense moment of silence. _I will arrange it._

It wasn’t until that moment that Ruby realized she had missed Salem’s voice in her head. Salem was the only person she could confide in now. And yet the very source of her woes at the same time. 

“Thanks.”

###### 

When Ruby opened her eyes and saw Salem, the first thing she did was embrace her. She needed a hug so badly from someone who understood. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay, it’s okay.” Salem hugged Ruby back, cradling her in her arms. “You’re doing the right thing.” 

“I’m not though. I’m hurting everyone.”

“You are saving them, and sometimes we must do harm for the sake of the world we wish to create.”

“Is this what it’s like being you?” Ruby clutched needily at Salem’s robe. “Hurting everyone you care about to save people, until eventually you make yourself stop caring because you just can’t keep living with the guilt?”

“I did attempt to ally myself with nobler individuals in the early days. There were precious few who accepted my explanations, and even fewer who accepted me. Many of them died in my service. In the end, I determined that it was better to utilize those whom I would be able to keep at arm’s reach.” Salem sighed. “It is much easier that way.”

“You’re so alone too then, huh?” Ruby couldn’t even begin to imagine what Salem has gone through, she had been right about that the last time they talked. “I can’t even be mad at you, you’re in too much pain too.”

“That is... generous of you.” Salem shifted around awkwardly, though she didn’t try to dislodge Ruby. 

“No, it’s just who I am. I want to love everyone, and that includes you, okay?” Ruby buried her face in Salem’s shoulder and started crying. What good even was it if her love was probably going to alter her friends and turn them into whatever they were turning into?

“What’s wrong?” Salem seemed distinctly uncomfortable, but she began to gently rub Ruby’s back. 

As Ruby’s tears slowly subsided, she felt a sense of calm contentment washing over her, like someone was petting her very brain. “Are you doing that?”

“I can send some emotions and artificially trigger some neural reactions through our link, yes. I intended it as a way to reward your good behavior.” 

“But...?”

“But I already have your willing cooperation, don’t I?” Salem gently guided Ruby’s chin such that they were looking at each other. Then she let go again. 

“Yeah. You do.” Ruby nodded, only barely aware of just how closely she was clinging to Salem. “But there are a lot of things I’m still worried about.”

“Ask, and I will answer. Speak, and I will listen.”

“So, I gave Pyrrha some cookies that I put some cum into and then asked her to be my girlfriend, but I’m worried that she only said yes because I basically drugged her.” Ruby’s eyes widened. “What if she really hates me because there’s a part of her somewhere that’s being controlled and she knows it so she’s suffering and-“

“Stop.” Salem clamped her hands over Ruby’s mouth. “That is impossible. Any changes in opinion of allegiance caused by you will be legitimately experienced by the target, it is a change, not an act of control. Given that she was only exposed to a small amount, it is exceptionally likely that she either would have agreed regardless, or that it merely allowed her to act on already present romantic interest.”

A great weight of fear and guilt lifted from Ruby’s shoulders, and she nodded to Salem, who removed her hand. “Thank you. So much. I’d be so lost if we weren’t doing this.” 

“It is for that exact reason that it is possible I could be doing this out of necessity, rather than any desire to comfort you.” 

“No, I believe in you. You’ve been doing your best to help people for a long time, why would you stop now?” Ruby looked at Salem, really looked at her. She thought that she saw someone just as heroic as her mother. So she pushed herself up in the bed and kissed Salem on the cheek. 

“You are forgiving to a fault.” Salem shook her head, her hand covering the spot on her cheek that had been kissed. “Whatever shall you accomplish like this?” 

“Maybe I’ll end this war forever with the power of love and dubious morality?” Ruby shrugged, only for a realization to hit her. “Oh! If I do well enough and we get a relic, you won’t need to be anywhere near as destructive, right? So like, there might be world peace even more than there is now?”

“True, though I fear Ozpin may take up extreme measures in that case, presenting me with no choice but to defend myself. That man is a fanatic, as far as I am aware.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s some way to stop him. There has to be.”

“With eight or more clever allies I do expect to discover something.” Salem hummed thoughtfully, sending comforting vibrations rumbling through Ruby’s body. 

“Eight?” Ruby grimaced. “Well, actually, I don’t like guys. Given how horny all this is, I don’t really want to get Ren and Jaune, although at the same time it _would_ also be bad to leave them out.” 

“Why would they necessarily have to remain male? As I have said, your targets will be changed, and I expect this change will be influenced by a combination of your and their desires.”

“Whoa, what? There are all sorts of transphobic implications in that statement, I mean the idea that you could actually change someone’s gender identity is really problematic in a lot of ways in itself, but wow, combined with these methods-“

“Shush.” Salem put her finger over Ruby’s lips, silencing her. “You do not need to worry about that. I will never allow bigotry of any kind in my presence. Furthermore, please stop treating yourself so harshly. These are my plans, my experiments, and you must allow me to bear the weight of the consequences.”

“I can’t do that. I agreed to this, I’m doing this. I’m still responsible.” Ruby sighed. “How do you manage the guilt?”

“By keeping my gaze ahead of me, focused firmly on my objective.” Salem’s hand trailed down Ruby’s face and lifted her head with gentle pressure under her chin. “Hold your head high, and be proud in the knowledge that what you do, you do for their sake, though they may scorn you for it.” Her thumb rested against the edge of Ruby’s lips, applying a slight pressure.

“Right.” Ruby closed her eyes and nuzzled into Salem’s comforting touch. “Okay. I can do that, that’s what a huntress does. Fight to protect people. Even if it means I’m fighting them to protect them from you.”

“And from the gods, and Ozpin.” Salem hugged Ruby to her chest.

“Yeah, them too.” Ruby nodded, enjoying the feeling of resting her head against Salem’s soft chest. “Can we do this every night?” 

“Very well, it would be tactically advantageous to do so.” Salem agreed. “Speaking of which, is there anything else you wish to report? Have you begun to influence your team as well?”

“Yeah, I’m going to spike the milk from now on. We all drink milk pretty regularly, so it’s a start. I’m guessing we probably need more than that for things to progress at a decent pace.”

“Yes. See if you can’t find ways to increase their daily exposure. It would likely be easiest if you focused on one of them at a time, as well.” Salem tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The heiress. She seems likely to be a prude, yet you have a great deal of access to her, thanks to being partnered. See if you can’t subtly encourage her in letting loose.”

“Could you maybe give me some more pointers on what sorts of things I can do now that I’m changed? Like, I thought that I saw my eyes were like yours once in the mirror, so if silver-eyed warriors can normally kill grimm with them, does that mean I might be able to do something different with them now?”

“An interesting proposition. If this change is capable of hiding itself, you may find some use for it, but you would likely need a test subject to experiment on.” There was a brief pause as Salem thought. “Do you know team CMEN? They are Mistral transfer students who will be fighting in the Tournament. Tell Cinder, their leader, that I have given you a gift, and you require a test subject. Ask for Emerald, but if she insists you use Neopolitan do so.”

“Wait, Roman Torchwick’s assistant is at the school? And you have other people doing things there too?” Ruby didn’t like the sound of that.

“Until I have proof that you will be able to deliver conclusive results, my initial plan will remain in motion. Do not worry, you have a significant amount of time before they come to their conclusion, and they can be cancelled with ease up until the final day of the Tournament.” Salem pet Ruby in a way that was admittedly at least a little bit reassuring.

“I have the time to go slowly then?” Ruby wasn’t sure how exactly she would go about hurrying the process, and she really didn’t want to think about it.

“You do. Making the process as gentle as possible will be perfectly doable so long as you are not discovered. If you are, you will likely have no choice but to take whoever discovers you by force, or somehow ensure their silence.”

Ruby winced. “I can’t do that. That would be terrible.”

“Worse than allowing their deaths?” Salem’s voice was gentle, but firm.

“No, it’s not.” Ruby didn’t like how right Salem was. Not one bit.


	4. Ecstacy Controls Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy holidays everyone. have some filthy smut because I forgot that this was smut in the last chapter

“Your tea is particularly excellent this morning, Blake.” Weiss sipped appreciatively at the beverage, a pleased expression gracing her face.

“I think it’s the milk. This stuff is a little bit more expensive than the brand I was getting before, but damn, it’s really good. Almost as good as it is fresh from the cow.” Blake said, as she sipped elegantly at her own tea.

“Yeah, the milk is definitely better than usual. I’m noticing it in my coffee too.” Yang injected her own opinion, then downed a second mug of the beverage in a single breath.

“Should be great with cookies too then, thanks for making such a great change Blake.” Ruby grinned earnestly at Blake. She really should try some milk the way it was now with cookies later.

Today Ruby needed to focus on doing two things. Experiment with her eyes, and work out a way to regularly give Pyrrha a decent amount of her bodily fluids. She might be able to do it with saliva from kissing her, but that wouldn’t necessarily be something that happened until later, and she wasn’t even sure how potent saliva might be. She guessed that it was probably less so than cum, since it hadn’t changed in any noticeable way. It also wasn’t as exciting, but she tried to ignore that particular aspect of her own thought process.

Blake was in the middle of pouring herself a fourth cup of tea with milk when an alarm on Yang’s scroll went off. “Plants science. Fun. I should get an insulated travel mug.” She rolled her eyes, scowling.

“C’mon Blakey,” Yang hooked an arm around Blake’s shoulders, “it can’t be too bad. Peach knows not to hand out catnip like it’s candy now.”

“You swore you would never speak of that.” Blake glared, the perpetually present dark circles under her eyes crinkling menacingly at Yang.

Begrudgingly, Ruby took out her scroll and took a note to check what exactly catnip did to cats, and see how she could go about getting some, just in case it might be useful somehow.

“You never followed through with that bribe.” Yang said, her voice teasingly singsong.

“Just hurry up before we’re late.” Blake downed a cup of tea, then dashed out the door with Yang hot on her heels.

“I almost wish I hadn’t tested out of that class.” Ruby wondered how cute Blake must have been during whatever incident had happened as the door closed, then immediately thereafter worried that that might be racist. Well, her thought process would be the same regardless of what Blake might be inebriated by, so no.

“The shower is mine.” Weiss gave Ruby a look that she couldn’t even begin to understand, then went into the bathroom without another word.

“Okayyy.” Ruby had no idea why Weiss was being so frosty all of a sudden. She’d seemed a lot nicer, especially since the end of the first semester. Ruby was about to go find Cinder, but before she could she noticed that Weiss had left her scroll out and open on her bed. She shouldn’t look.

Weiss had left open her internet browser, currently open to a search page for what looked like a very poorly worded attempt at researching female sexuality. Ruby guessed that Weiss was on the verge of just now discovering what a vibrator was. Something that wasn’t very surprising, since she’d been raised by stuffy, sexist, racist nobles. Maybe there was some way she could give Weiss a gentle nudge.

Under the assumption that Weiss was probably cis because her parents were rich and therefore probably transphobic, Ruby went ahead and retyped a few of the searches with better syntax and the seemingly obvious keywords that Weiss was missing, as well as opening a few new tabs with things she’d read before that applied to cis and trans women, then set the scroll back where she had found it, in sleep mode. Hopefully Weiss would be less embarrassed about it than she was grateful for the subtle advice.

Ruby giggled as she slipped on her shoes. She’d just done a mostly good deed of the horny variety. It would be nice if she could find more ways to use her new abilities and motives for good like that. Maybe it would help Blake feel safer if she stopped the White Fang by changing Salem’s plans to not involve them, or help Yang feel less afraid of being abandoned if she had seven girlfriends.

“Good morning.” Pyrrha gave Ruby her signature wave in the hallway. “Are you feeling better after last night?”

For a moment Ruby wasn’t sure what Pyrrha meant, then she remembered the worries she’d had before. “Yep. It turns out I didn’t really need to worry about it at all.” She grinned and took Pyrrha’s hand, intertwining their fingers. A giddy smile appeared on her face as she remembered that she had a date in the evening.

“Excited about our date tonight?” Pyrrha caught on to Ruby’s smile, and sent one back to her.

“Really excited.” Ruby would have tried to kiss Pyrrha, but she was too tall to ever reach her from the ground. Literally the only conceivable disadvantage of having such an amazingly beautiful and very tall girlfriend.

Pyrrha took the initiative and leaned down, giving Ruby a peck on the lips. They both smiled into the kiss and fiddled nervously with their hair as they separated. “So, I might have already finished all the cookies you made me.”

“You want me to make some more?” Ruby licked her lips unconsciously. She should put a little bit more cum in the next batch, and see if she could figure out any of its concrete effects or get an idea of exactly what kinds of quantities had what effects.

“If you don’t mind.” Pyrrha licked her lips as well, a motion that Ruby couldn’t help interpreting lewdly.

“I’d love to, actually.” Ruby suddenly imagined Pyrrha extracting her secret ingredient straight from the source. She had to change her stride a little bit to account for the growing warmth of her arousal under her skirt. Was it a little bit more obvious than it had been before? It sort of felt like it was, and was worried it might be noticeable since she had never figured out how to tuck. “It’s a really meaningful gesture to me.”

“Why’s that?”

“My mom made cookies a lot when I was young. And then Yang made them for me, until I was old enough to use an over and make them for myself.” Ruby squeezed Pyrrha’s hand, and wrapped Summer’s cloak around her more tightly.

“Oh,” Pyrrha covered her mouth with her free hand, “I’m sorry. And... thank you. For the cookies.”

“You’re welcome.” Ruby lifted Pyrrha’s hand to her cheek and nuzzled gently against it.

“You’re cute.” Pyrrha affectionately caressed Ruby’s face, her thumb rubbing against her cheek. “But I have class now, sorry.”

“It’s alright, see you tonight. Or at lunch? Well, later.” Ruby sighed a little as Pyrrha stopped touching her and they parted ways for their different classes.

###### 

At lunch, Ruby scoured the cafeteria for Cinder or one of her team members. Finally, she saw Cinder herself come in with Mercury and Emerald in tow.

“Here, you can have my food. I gotta go talk to someone.” Ruby awkwardly slid her food to Pyrrha and rushed off to catch Cinder before she got her food and left.

“Aren’t you that brat that went missing a while ago?” Cinder’s glare would have been intimidating if Ruby didn’t know that they were on the same side.

“Yeah?” Ruby pouted. “There’s no need to be so mean. Can we talk somewhere private?”

“What reason is there for me to talk to you?”

“The reason is that we’re on the same side and our mutual friend told me to go to you for a bit of help.” Ruby winked. It was probably the opposite of subtle, she really didn’t have good control over her facial muscles.

“Merc, Em, don’t wait for me.” Cinder’s expression immediately darkened, and she grabbed the collar of Ruby’s cloak, then began dragging her off into a hallway and into an empty classroom. “What mutual friend?” She spoke in a harsh whisper, roughly pressing Ruby up against the wall until her shoulder hurt. Ruby tried very hard not to get turned on. She failed.

“Y’know, Salem. I’m working with her too now.” Ruby shrugged, completely confused about what Cinder was doing.

“Why wasn’t I told about this?” Cinder hissed from between her teeth, her grip tightening.

“Well I mean, we’re each doing our own little thing, really. I got my things that I’m trying to accomplish and you’ve got yours, they’re pretty different. I actually don’t know what exactly the plan with you is either, I just need a little hand with my own thing. I think it’s sort of like a race to see who gets results first.”

“If we’re meant to be working separately why did you come to me for help?” Cinder narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Because I just need to test something out on someone who won’t talk about it, and Salem said I should borrow Emerald from you for it.” Ruby smiled innocently.

“If you can find her you can get Neo’s help. She’s disguised as someone named Polly, black hair, doesn’t talk. If she doesn’t want to cooperate, just mention Torchwick.” Cinder snorted in disgust and threw Ruby to the floor. “Don’t speak with me again.”

Ruby had to take a few minutes to let herself calm down before she started trying to find Neo. Her libido was starting to become distracting enough that it might be a problem. Or maybe she just really wanted hot evil women to step on her? Both? Both. Both is good.

###### 

Ruby didn’t actually manage to find “Polly,” and by the time she gave up it was almost time for her date with Pyrrha. She would have to try and catch her during Goodwitch’s next combat class. All of team CMEN would have to be there for class at the same time as Ruby.

The more immediate problem was that Ruby had no idea what she should wear. She only had a few outfits that she wore on a rotation and had made with a lot of Yang’s advice, and had no ability to tell if a new one was going to be any good or not. 

“Blake, you understand clothes and you’re sapphic, right?” Ruby turned to the only other person in the dorm at the moment for advice. “Could you help me out?”

“Bitch, I’m as sapphic as the moon. And yes, I can help you.” Blake spoke impassively, her nose still buried in a book.

There was a long moment in which Ruby started at Blake, confused. Then she sighed, facepalming at Blake’s smartassery. “Would you?”

“Sure.” Blake closed her book, and threw it at her bookshelf without looking, where it slid perfectly into its place among the others. “What do you have to work with?”

“Skirts, basically.” Ruby shrugged. “And some stuff I never actually wear because it’s too delicate for fighting in.” 

“Let me see what you’re considering.” 

“Well,” Ruby started digging around through her drawers and pulling out things from underneath her other clothes, then tossing it onto her bed, “here’s some stuff. I think I want to look... softer than usual.”

“In a seductive way or a cute way?” Blake almost seemed to be looking anywhere other than Ruby, instead she focused on the clothes Ruby had laid out.

“Cute way. Definitely cute.” Ruby nodded to herself. It was definitely too soon to actually seduce Pyrrha. While she wasn’t exactly sure what the consequences would be, she had a sneaking suspicion that making someone a little bit Grimm very quickly wouldn’t be pleasant. At the very least Pyrrha would probably notice something was wrong because of the rapid physical changes.

“Hmmm.” Blake hummed absent-mindedly as she started picking through clothes, casually tossing some aside, and holding onto others. “You know, I’m sort of surprised you’re dating Pyrrha.”

“You thought I liked Weiss too? Why do people keep thinking that?” It wasn’t strictly _wrong,_ Ruby did like Weiss, among others. Everything that had happened had just forced her hand into asking out Pyrrha. 

“Yeah... Weiss.” Blake cleared her throat and threw some clothes at Ruby. “Try these on.”

“Yes ma’am!” Ruby jokingly saluted Blake, then started stripping out of her current outfit.

“You can’t just...” Blake sighed heavily, covering her eyes with her hands as Ruby changed. “You’re too much sometimes.”

“What do you mean? It’s no big deal, I’m not even changing my underwear. Besides, you’ve seen me with this much clothing on and covered in sweat from training before in the locker rooms.” Ruby quirked an eyebrow at Blake, who just shook her head despondently.

“Right, of course. Sorry. Don’t worry about it, it’s just me.” 

“Okay.” Ruby tried not to worry, and failed. Something weird was up with Blake, but she really needed to just focus on her date. “Anyway, how do I look?” She did a little spin with her arms held out, enjoying the way her skirt twirled around her. 

“Beautiful.” Blake had chosen a lightweight white blouse, dark blue shawl, and knee-length black skirt. They were light, and if Ruby took off the shawl most of her shoulders would be exposed, in addition to what felt like a wide swath of her chest.

“Awesome, thanks!” Ruby grabbed her scroll and shoved it into her pocket, only to find that this skirt didn’t have pockets. No wonder she never wore it. “Wait, no, I can’t possibly leave this room without my scroll, what if we get attacked by Grimm and I need my baby?”

“In the middle of town?” Blake rolled her eyes.

“You never know. Besides, I don’t actually know where we’re going.” Ruby grinned.

“Here, take this and get out on that date.” Blake chucked a purse at Ruby, who caught it with ease.

“Thanks Blake! See you later.” Ruby gave Blake a kiss on the cheek before zipping out of the room with her semblance.

###### 

“So, what do you think?” Pyrrha spread her arms in an inviting flourish to show off the scene of the date she’d prepared.

“It’s beautiful, and so are you.” A single tear trailed down Ruby’s cheek as she took in the sight before her. Pyrrha was wearing a comfy looking oversized black shirt and usual red miniskirt. For their date she had reserved a study room with a projector from the library and made a nest of blankets on the couch. On a table that had been pulled in front of the couch was a meat lovers pizza. Everything about it was perfect.

“Staying in isn’t that big a deal.” Pyrrha preened herself a little bit, even as she tried to downplay the date she’d put together.

“It’s not a big deal, but I love doing it.” Ruby smiled and embraced Pyrrha. “It’s great because we’re both here and we don’t have to worry about other people.”

“I did sort of do this because I wanted us to be alone. The way people were staring before in the cafeteria was... uncomfortably familiar.” Pyrrha swept Ruby up in the embrace and sat on the couch.

“Yeah, being alone is nice.” Ruby savored how warm the touch of Pyrrha’s arms was against her skin. “Means you can cuddle and kiss as much as you want.” 

“Is that an invitation?” Pyrrha shifted Ruby into her lap, watching her coyly. 

“Yes.” Ruby grinned, and Pyrrha pulled her forward into a lengthy kiss. She melted into Pyrrha’s strong grasp, happy to let her lips part for Pyrrha’s tongue. Their embrace heated up quickly as hands trailed over skin and tongues brushed together, until she realized that she definitely needed to slow down before things got any more intense. “Wait, let’s calm down a little bit.” She leaned back a little bit, readjusting her legs and resting her palms against Pyrrha’s shoulders.

“Right, of course. I’m sorry, I’m not entirely sure what came over me.” Pyrrha blinked and shook her head, shifting Ruby so that they were side by side. “We should at least try to eat, and watch a movie.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fun.” Ruby compartmentalized her knowledge that she was what had happened, and did her best to just enjoy her perfectly normal date with a girl she really, genuinely liked romantically. She snuggled under Pyrrha’s arm and they somehow managed to eat pizza without getting greasy. 

Watching the movie was fun. Neither of them was actually too invested in it, so instead they just cuddled and talked about their friends, and each other. Pyrrha was so warm, and when they were silent it felt perfectly natural. Eventually though, the topic turned to the matter of her leadership.

“It’s... really hard right now, actually.” Ruby sighed. “I went and made a decision I can’t undo or tell anyone else about, and I’m terrified of the consequences, and of what I have to do now.”

“Why?”

“To save everyone’s lives.” Ruby wasn’t sure that she should be talking about this, but she needed validation. She needed to know she’d done the right thing from someone who her choice was affecting.

“When you say everyone...”

“The eight of us, and probably tons of regular people from Vale. And it’s really starting to mess with my head. I’m afraid that I’m not even the same person I was before, or that I’ll stop being me.”

Pyrrha’s eyes widened. “Did Ozpin make you an offer too?” 

“Huh? Ozpin? Not him.” Ruby blinked, suddenly panicking. If she’d talked to Ozpin, what did Pyrrha already think she knew about the Relics and Maidens? “What offer did Ozpin make to you?”

“I’m not supposed to say.” Pyrrha pursed her lips in thought. “We could both tell each other.”

“Actually, when i say that I can’t tell anyone, I mean that I can’t. I’m physically incapable of telling. But, whatever Ozpin said to you, it might be really important to what I’m trying to do. Could you tell me?”

“If you’re not working for Ozpin, then, who else would know about the things he told me about?” Pyrrha frowned, her brow furrowed. “One of the other headmasters?”

“Please? Trust me? I’m really trying to help everyone.” Ruby trembled. She couldn’t afford to let slip any more information, and she needed to make sure Pyrrha didn’t tell Ozpin anything about what she’d said. That had been such a mistake, but maybe she could get more information out of it.

“I do trust you, but I don’t want to betray Professor Ozpin’s trust. I’m sorry.” Pyrrha shrugged apologetically.

“I understand. Just... please keep what I said a secret too. I don’t want the others to worry about me, it would make everything harder.” Ruby interlaced her fingers with Pyrrha’s.

“Promise.” Pyrrha squeezed Ruby’s hand, and smiled gently at her. “And, for what it’s worth, as long as you’re doing something to save people, I think that it’s worth trying, even if you mess it up or it hurts a little. We all came here prepared to make sacrifices to protect others.”

“Thanks.” Ruby’s heart swelled as a lot of her worry drifted away. She hummed happily and settled back into Pyrrha’s side for the rest of their date. She could live with this, for as long as it lasted.

###### 

“So you’ve always been in Remnant, causing chaos to make sure that Ozpin wouldn’t try to unite the relics?” Ruby was sitting in a chair a few feet in front of the foot of Salem’s bed. She didn’t really feel like sitting with Salem in her bed. If she did they’d end up cuddling more.

“Ever since Ozma and I first fought. That was long ago, though before I would often do what I could to encourage the growth of civilization.” Salem affirmed, her lips drawn into a tight line. “I would compare the existence I have led to that of a farmer culling new growth, that the remaining shoots might be healthy and free to grow as they please, but such a metaphor diminishes the value of the lives I have taken.”

“That’s... I don’t know. I guess you really didn’t have any reason to lie to me about any of that, and when I assume it’s all true I don’t really think that you’re wrong to do what you’ve been doing, but it’s still a horrible thing to do. It’s not how a huntress should be.” Ruby said, and laughed bitterly at herself. “Although I guess there’s no way I’m ever going to be a huntress now.”

“Nonetheless, you are acting in the service of the people of Remnant.” Salem smiled sadly at Ruby. “An admittedly hollow-sounding claim, that I often find myself thinking on restless nights.”

“Does it help?” Ruby stood up and started pacing anxiously. Her life never should have been like this. It never should have happened. She was going to be a hero.

“Rarely.” Salem patted the bed beside her. “Come. Sit. Tell me, why do you continue to struggle to understand my motives, and treat me like this?”

“You’re the only person I can really talk to anymore.” Ruby took a seat as asked and sighed, fiddling with and running her hand over Salem’s bedsheets. “I’m living a lie, and lying to them just by doing what I’m doing, even if it is to save them. I didn’t even think I was any good at lying before now.”

“Your sacrifice is great, but you may take heart in knowing that this feeling is temporary. Once they have joined us they will be happy with their new places, and once you tell them of your pain they will be eager to comfort you.” Salem’s spine was stiff as she sat against the headboard, her speech clipped and tight. 

“But there’s no one to comfort you, is there?” Ruby reached out to Salem, her heart now aching empathetically. “Or thank you?”

“There have been some. Precious few, who have supported me and shouldered my burdens, though they were never asked to. In the end, however, they die, and I live on.” Salem looked at Ruby, her gaze incredibly calm. Not expecting, not asking, merely watching. 

“Thank you.” Ruby didn’t dare to suggest she do such a thing, not when her own actions were nearly too much to bear. “Thank you for keeping the world free from the gods.”

Salem grabbed Ruby’s hand and pulled her into her lap. Ruby couldn’t look away from her. “Do you understand the full scope of what you’re thanking me for?” 

“No. I don’t think I ever can.” Ruby felt warm, sitting in Salem’s lap like that. Warm, and safe. “It’s too many years. I can barely understand the passage of time as I live through it, or the real meaning behind the number of people in Vale, I’m too detached from them. But I don’t have to understand something to accept it. Thank you. For all the people you’ve killed, from one of the people you’ve saved.”

“Even as I condemn you, defile you and your friends, you thank me?” Salem let out a short huff of air that almost seemed like an empty laugh.

“In a way you’re just doing the best you can, like me. If I hated you now I’d have to hate myself too, although I sort of do already.” Ruby looked at Salem, and wondered again how much she could really trust her, and whether she was doing the best thing.

“I appreciate your understanding, born from necessity as it may be.” Salem rested her hands on Ruby’s shoulders, and left them there. Just resting, providing a comforting weight.

“I try to be as good a person as I can. Extra hard, now.” Ruby rested her hand on top of Salem’s, the touch sending warmth crawling through her body. Her eyes closed, and she leaned forward, letting Salem’s arms wrap around her. “Would you... help me relax?”

“Oh?” Salem’s voice sounded different, lower, softer, like velvet being draped over Ruby’s ears. “How might I do that?”

“Hold me, touch me, comfort me. Please? Let me feel less alone.” Ruby guided Salem’s hands down her body, shuddering as skin brushed against skin. She set them just above the waist of her pants, and Salem took initiative, sliding them under her shirt to rest on her belly. Her hips bucked as she started thinking about them sliding lower. 

“You must be more specific.” Salem’s breath tickled the inside of Ruby’s ear as she spoke. “Do you find it difficult to speak your desires, even now?”

Ruby nodded. It was getting increasingly difficult to speak, and she was growing increasingly nervous. She worked her mouth slowly, trying to focus on how Salem’s touch made her feel safe, understood, accepted. “Fuck me? And, may I call you mommy?”

“Yes, and you may.” Salem’s grip on her tightened, Ruby was now being pressed against her entire body, clutched to her chest in a way that left her helpless and hopelessly aroused. One of her hands trailed up Ruby’s belly to her breasts, leaving a trail of burning warmth along her sensitive skin. 

Ruby’s top was pulled up with the hand, then quickly tossed aside, followed shortly after by her bra. She moaned as a hand possessively groped her breast, just roughly enough that she could feel every point of contact, and just a little bit of glorious pain. “Mmmm, mommy. Can I touch you too?” Her skirt bulged obviously and she could feel a damp spot already growing in her panties. She needed contact so badly, anything to grind herself against. 

“Of course, baby girl.” Salem’s sharp intake of breath didn’t go unnoticed, nor did the way her voice dropped into what was practically a low purr. She loosened her hold on Ruby enough to undo the clasp of her robes, letting them fall to the bed around her shoulders. Her hands gently nudged Ruby to turn around and face her.

Ruby stared, her jaw slack with wonder. Salem was so beautiful. The red veins on her skin stood out gorgeously, accentuating her form. Ruby couldn’t resist leaning forward, bringing her mouth to one of Salem’s nipples and suckling at it. As she did, her hips came to rest against Salem’s thigh, and she ground her hips forward with a needy moan.

“That’s a good girl.” Salem threaded her fingers through Ruby’s hair, her fingernails gently scratching along her scalp. Her free hand reached down and began to knead Ruby’s ass. “Grind against mommy’s thigh, like the little slut you are. Embrace it.”

It felt as if something deep in Ruby squirmed, erasing the rest of her slight nervousness. She felt good, clutched in Salem’s arms, being held, comforted, and praised. Only the present was important. Her head fogged as she ground against Salem’s thigh, her legs clenched together as she sought what pleasure she could find in the movement. It wasn’t enough, muffled by the remaining layers of fabric between them as it was. She briefly stopped suckling to whimper needily, begging Salem for more.

“I suppose that I’ve made you wait long enough. After all, such a good girl deserves a reward for her service.” Salem lifted Ruby from her lap and laid her down on her back, then shed the remnants of her own robe. She pulled off and tossed aside Ruby’s skirt and panties in one fluid motion, then pinned Ruby down by the shoulders and kissed her.

Ruby lost herself in the sensation of Salem’s tongue claiming her mouth, the hands roaming her body, and the weight pinning her down. She ground needily against Salem’s thigh as it came to rest between her legs again, leaving a slick trail of pre across it. “Thank you mommy.” It came out as a moan, high pitched and weak. A gentle hand wrapped around the head of her cock, sending shocks of pleasure through her whole body. She was so much more sensitive than she ever had been when she touched herself.

Salem spread Ruby’s pre across her thumb, then settled her hips just over the head of Ruby’s shaft. “Such a good girl, now accept your reward.” She slowly slid down onto Ruby’s cock, wet and warm enough for Ruby to moan again, only for Salem to silence her with a sloppy kiss. 

Hands started to toy with Ruby’s breasts, pinching and pulling at her sensitive skin. All of it felt impossibly, incredibly real, building together in a haze that only let her react and submit to Salem’s rough riding and teasing. The longer it lasted the closer she felt to letting go, and the happier she was. The simple, pure joy of action, of expressing how she loved everyone in her life by submitting to them. She should do it more often.

“Very good Ruby,” Salem moaned, the speed of her riding accelerating as she started slamming herself down onto Ruby’s cock, “now come in your mommy.” She bottomed out, clenching tightly around Ruby as she shuddered.

“Mommy!” Ruby whimpered as she came, bountiful jets of cum shooting into Salem’s pussy as white lightning shot through her body and her muscles slackened. As she slowly came down and slipped back into dreamless sleep, the last thing she remembered was Salem gently threading her hands through her hair and whispering soft praise into her ear as they lay nacked together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, I do have mommy issues. How did you know?


	5. What You Give Just Serves Me Right

Ruby woke up to the feeling of something slightly sticky and slightly dried pooled on and around her belly. Then she caught the smell. Oops. She hadn’t considered that having sex with Salem in her dreams might have consequences. Okay, well, if no one was awake yet she could just gather up all her sheets and blankets without bothering them and take a shower before she woke them up. Sure, they’d probably end up being a little bit late but it would save her a lot of embarrassment and the potential giving of clues about her activities with Salem.

Except that Blake was already sitting straight up in her bed, her eyes silently boring into Ruby with what she assumed was a death glare. Oops. She mouthed the word _sorry_ before getting to work on cleaning up, first by using her underwear as a rag, then gathering her sheets and throwing them in the laundry as quickly as possible. All through the process Blake barely moved, aside from her eyes, which impassively followed Ruby’s every movement. 

Once the most embarrassing thing she had ever done in her life was mostly over, she had to shower. In the clarity of the shower she realized that she was going to have to wear a condom to bed from now on, something that would seem really weird to anyone who noticed, but was definitely necessary. Either that, or a diaper, but... ewww. No, just, no. No judgement on other people, but she had no intention of taking her kinks that far. The idea of not regularly having sex with Salem never occured to her.

Blake was no longer the only one who was awake when Ruby got out of the shower, and Yang rushed in as soon as Ruby stepped out. 

“So, uh...” Ruby glanced nervously at Weiss, who was awake and reading a textbook, perfectly capable of hearing what she said. “Sorry about that thing.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Blake was refusing to look at Ruby, though it almost seemed like she was blushing. “It was actually the noises you were making that woke me up.”

“The noises?” Ruby blanched, even more embarrassed than before. 

“Yeah,” Blake buried her face further into her scroll, “although the smell is sort of hanging around in the room too.” She tilted her head up to drink some tea, revealing that her face was very red. “At least it isn’t terrible.” 

Oh. Oh no, if Blake managed to place the smell of cum as being in the milk Ruby would be in serious trouble. Although... Blake still wouldn’t have real proof, and she already seemed to be at least a little bit... appreciative of it, so maybe by that time she would already be too far gone to care? And Blake is the one who drinks the most milk, so maybe it would be alright. Ruby couldn’t think of anything to actively do about it, so she would just have to wait and be extra careful not to be caught spiking the milk. 

“Right, umm, I’m really, really sorry.” Ruby guiltily apologized for more than one thing at once, not daring to look at Blake.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. It’s just something that happens.” Blake said as she got up and made her way to the fridge.

“Okay.” Ruby twiddled her thumbs as she sat in her bed, watching her team’s morning routine. She was supposed to be responsible for them, and now here she was, betraying them. Hopefully they’ll forgive her someday, even if she didn’t really deserve it.

###### 

Ruby managed to corner Neo just as Professor Goodwitch dismissed the class, approaching her carefully, though hopefully not enough to garner suspicion.

“Hey Polly, there’s something I could use your help with if you don’t mind. Cinder sent me.” Ruby said, only flinched away from the disguised girl’s angry glare. “I don’t want to force you or anything, but I’d really appreciate it, and I’m guessing you don’t really like Cinder, Right?”

Neo’s glare slowly faded, then she nodded coldly, somehow managing to look down her nose at Ruby despite being even shorter than Weiss.

“Well, if I manage to succeed in my mission I think Cinder would be pretty angry. I’m not asking you to do much, I just need some of your time.” She held up her hands placatingly, a hopeful smile on her face.

After a moment of consideration, Neo nodded once more, sharply this time, and started walking away. Ruby had to hurry after her to keep up as they made their way to a classroom that seemed to be unused for the period, it’s door unlocked and lights on.

Abruptly, Neo turned on her heel the moment the door closed behind them and held her hands out with her palms laid out to point at the ceiling, asking what she wanted.

“Well, just, uh... give me a second. I’m going to try a thing, and let me know how it affects you if my eyes start looking different.” Ruby closed her eyes before Neo could respond, picturing the black and red Grimm-like eyes she had seen in the mirror that time. After visualizing it for a few moments, she opened her eyes for Neo’s analysis.

Neo shrugged. Nothing had happened.

Ruby closed her eyes again. People with silver eyes were naturally more resistant to Grimm essence, so based on what Salem had told her maybe that meant they had some connection to the God of Light and thus Creation. What was happening to her might be like the Destruction consuming the Creation, so then if she wanted to use the abilities of her eyes maybe think about destroying stuff? Except that she didn’t have the slightest impulse to kill or destroy in her, so that didn’t quite make sense.

It wasn’t about Destruction taking the place of the Creation, so much as combining, maybe? Her eyes were like Salem’s, and she had both inside of her. So then maybe the fact that it was sexual was what was important, and that her job was to spread it. To spread her corruption, and make everyone like her, make them agree with her. The thought brought forth a feeling in her gut and she latched on to it, letting it fill her as she opened her eyes again.

At first it seemed like Neo wasn’t reacting at all. She just kept looking at Ruby, her countenance gradually relaxing.

“Polly?” Ruby waved her hand in front of Neo’s face, but the disguised girl didn’t react at all, her stare vacant and her jaw slack. She was incredibly cute like that, actually. She just looked so... relaxed. “Are you in a trance right now?”

Neo nodded slowly, her expression still blank and beautiful.

So... she had magic hypnosis Grimm eyes then? Ruby had to gently bite her lip to make sure she didn’t do something dumb there and then. Why was she finding out about so many new kinks these days? Maybe she should leave Neo with some sort of suggestion to figure out what Cinder was doing and tell her.

No, bad Ruby! That’s not what this would be best for, she could use it to help everyone. Like, to reassure Yang that she wasn’t going to get abandoned again, or to make Blake feel safe with them, or let Weiss relax a little more and feel free to be her secretly nice self with the team. Yeah, she could use her not entirely consensually exercised powers to make everyone happier!

And maybe a little bit to cover her ass from getting caught, just in case. For the sake of saving their lives.

Ruby nearly left the room with Neo just standing there like that, only to turn around at the last second and check if she’d woken up. Nope, it must keep working after breaking eye contact. “You can wake up now.”

Neo snapped back to the same expectant expression she had had before, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

“Thanks a bunch for your help.” Ruby said, beaming at her guinea pig. “We don’t need to talk again if you don’t want to now, I figured out what I needed.” She waved goodbye before leaving under the pressure of Neo’s slightly confused scrutiny.

###### 

Just as luck would have it, Blake was alone in their room when Ruby got back to it, her nose buried in the news, rather than a book. Combing it for any more information about the White Fang, probably.

“Hey Blake, anything good happening?” It bothered Ruby how Blake still couldn’t seem to stop worrying about the White Fang, even after they’d stopped the Breach, so maybe she could help.

“The White Fang members the police caught at the Breach either aren’t talking or don’t know anything. They’re all still out there, sitting on a ton of stolen dust, after trying to destroy Vale.” Blake rested her head in her hands heavily, sighing. “And I still feel like I have to do something, but I can’t think of anything.”

“Maybe that’s for the best.” Ruby said as she slowly took away Blake’s scroll, the Faunus not resisting. Yang and Weiss were both out, so this could be the perfect opportunity. “We aren’t hunters, not yet. We messed up so badly at the Breach, Yang almost died, I got caught, we didn’t manage to stop the train... we’re not ready to take responsibility for things like that. That mission wasn’t even meant for us, and if we’d left it to a more experienced team they probably could have done better.” And she wouldn’t be in this position of having to betray everyone. But, then they’d all just die when whatever Salem’s other plan was happened, wouldn’t they?

“You’re right.” Blake said, her hand covering her mouth. “It’s my fault, because I made us all do it, I put us in danger for no reason, and it’s my fault you got captured. When really, that mission would have been done either way, and they still could have stopped the Breach. I’m so sorry.” She squeezed her eyes shut, close to tears.

“Hey, no, it’s okay, that’s not what I meant. We all wanted to help stop them.” Ruby kept her voice soft, trying to get Blake to look at her as she tried to bring forth the same power she had with Neo. She could fix this. “Come on, look at me. You’re okay. You haven’t done anything wrong, or anything we weren’t all okay with.”

“I know, I just...” Blake looked up at Ruby through slightly moist eyes, and trailed off, her body suddenly relaxing.

“It’s okay Blake.” Ruby said with a soft smile. She carefully indulged herself and cupped Blake’s cheek in her hand, staring into vacant eyes. Unconsciously, she licked her lips. “Just relax. Let my voice soothe you, listen closely. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.” Blake intoned, so adorably relaxed, her entire body limp and malleable like putty as she looked back at Ruby. Even her ears drooped as she lay there in distant attentiveness. She was so pretty that way. So blank. So relaxed. Ruby enjoyed it so much she was almost scared.

A plan to accomplish her goal formed in Ruby’s mind, independent of her knowledge and almost without effort. “I want you to picture your guilt. Imagine it as a tight black ball of emotion, and hold it in your hands. Let me know when you’ve gathered all of it up.”

Blake’s brow furrowed with concentration for a moment, even as she stared into the black and red horizon burning within Ruby’s eyes. “Got it.” It seemed to be making her slightly uncomfortable.

“Now picture yourself handing it to me, then do the same thing with your fear, then your shame.”

Blake let loose a breath of relief as she complied with the first part of the request, then began again, though she showed less effort before speaking again. “Okay.”

“Good. Now picture me taking out a box and putting your fear, your guilt, and your shame into the box. I’m going to take the box and hide it away somewhere safe. You know that they’ll be safe with me, but they also won’t be able to hurt you anymore, and you don’t have to worry about them.” Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the serene expression on Blake’s face. She’d done a helpful thing! But... she also needed to make sure Blake wouldn’t get suspicious. 

“You feel safe with the other members of team RWBY, especially with me, and you trust us. You feel like it's safe to confide in me when you need someone to talk to. You know that I wouldn’t betray your trust, and if you think I’m doing something I shouldn’t be, you’ll confront me alone, without telling anyone else about your suspicions, and you’ll believe me when I explain myself.”

“We’re a family, after all. I love all of my friends so much, and I don’t want to do anything to hurt them. You’re all so important to me, I don’t know what I would do if I lost any of you.” Ruby smiled sadly. If only her situation wasn’t changing the meaning behind her feelings into something disturbingly insidious and corruptive. If only she had some other way of saving them.

With that, Ruby had said everything she needed to. But... she really wanted to touch Blake’s face a little more. Blake was just so pretty like this, and she hardly ever got to have time with her. Maybe just a little ear rub? She’d wanted to pet those ears since she’d first seen them, but she’d always known it would be rude to ask.

No, bad Ruby! Why did she keep having so many intrusive thoughts?

“Alright Blake, I’m going to count up to ten from one, and when I reach ten, you will be awake, feeling aware and refreshed, with no memory of being in a trance.” Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and used the camera to make sure that her eyes looked normal again, then looked back at Blake. “One.”

“Two.”

Blake blinked slowly, lazily.

“Three.”

“Four.”

“Five.”

A small sound of contentment escaped Blake’s lips.

“Six.”

“Seven.”

“Eight.”

Blake stretched lazily, almost like a cat.

“Nine.”

“Ten.”

Blake blinked, and rubbed her eyes, only a little bit bleary. “What was I just saying?”

“I don’t really remember.” Ruby wasn’t even lying, she wasn’t sure exactly what Blake had been about to say. “It was something really emotional though.”

“Right.” Blake nodded slowly, then yawned. “Well, I do feel better now, even if I don’t really remember what I was talking about. Thanks Ruby.” She smiled shyly before turning her gaze away. 

“Good.” Ruby shot Blake a wide grin. “You and Weiss are like family to me, you know. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I...” Small tears nearly welled up in Blake’s eyes before she wiped them off.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just really happy to hear you say that. And I feel better and safer than I have in a long time, and I’m not sure why.” Blake smiled, even as she wiped off her face again. “Could you give me a hug?”

“Sure.” Ruby wrapped Blake up in a heavy hug, letting the Faunus bury her head in the nook of her shoulder. It was a good hug, warm and long, enough that Ruby was sure her suggestions had worked and make her beam with pride. She was gonna make everyone so much happier.

###### 

Everything settled into a comfortable routine for a few days. Salem made regular and carnal visits into her dreams, Blake was more relaxed, Pyrrha was an amazing girlfriend that Ruby kissed the heck out of, Yang continued to be a little freaked out about being saved by Raven, and Weiss kept giving her the cold shoulder for reasons she really didn’t understand. Eventually, Ruby decided that she needed to talk to her partner, and she ended up having to corner Weiss in a training room.

“Weiss, what’s going on? Why have you been so mad at me lately?” Ruby said with a pout. It was really bothering her how her best friend kept brushing her off.

“I don’t need to explain myself to someone with no respect for privacy.” Weiss scowled and crossed her arms.

“I... uh, so you noticed that huh?” Ruby peered sheepishly at the wall next to Weiss, thoroughly regretful over what she’d done. “Sorry. I was trying to help, but you’re right that I shouldn’t have. You were being grouchy before that though.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “ _That_ is...” she trailed off, her scowl turning into a frown.

“It’s okay if you don’t tell me, I just... I miss my bestie.” Ruby said, shooting Weiss a hesitant smile.

“That matter is a failure on my part.” Weiss sighed heavily. “I have been remiss to take my frustration with a certain situation out on you.”

“That’s okay, I’ll be here if you want to talk about it. If not, we should get some ice cream or something later to make up.” Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she held out her arms. “Hug?”

“I suppose that I could indulge you with a hug.” Weiss rolled her eyes in a pretense of reluctance before accepting the hug and burying her face into Ruby’s chest while she squeezed back tightly.

“Thanks, Weissy.” Ruby happily squeezed back tightly for as long as Weiss kept going, which was actually a lot longer than she’d expected.

“And,” Weiss’ lips quirked up as she let go, “I suppose that I am grateful for the assistance you provided me with, even if it was an invasion of privacy. It was very helpful, and I can accept that you had good intentions. However, if you ever do something so embarrassing again I will flay you alive.”

“Yes ma’am!” Ruby saluted as seriously as she could, though she couldn’t help smiling back. “Next time feel free to ask for help if you need it. I’m pretty sure any of the three of us could help you learn more about sex.”

Weiss shook her head, a look of wonder on her face. “How are you able to say that without any shame?”

“Because Yang is the one who gave me the talk, twice.” Ruby chuckled nervously. Those were... experiences.

“Twice?”

“First when I turned fourteen and then again when she found out I was her little sis.” 

“I see...” Weiss’ slightly vacant expression strongly implied that she didn’t see. “Aside from that, there is something you could do to assist me, I suppose.”

“What is it?”

“I do not have a way to... anonymously acquire certain items of a nature that as far as my father is concerned may as well be illicit. He has maintained a close eye on my bank accounts and would investigate the nature of such a purchase. Similarly, doing such a thing in person runs a risk of being recognized and causing a scandal. As such, I would appreciate a... proxy.”

“You want me to buy sex toys for you?” Ruby did her best to suppress a smile that was both nefarious and teasing, with only some success.

“If you laugh I will forget we ever had this entire conversation and continue to brush you off.” Weiss snapped.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just happy for you. Really.” Ruby said, doing her best to assuage Weiss’ insecurity.

“Yes, well, you are handling it better than I would expect Yang or Blake to, so I suppose I can forgive you.” Surreptitiously, Weiss looked around to make sure that the aforementioned individuals weren’t in earshot, but they were either practising hand to hand combat or flirting, possibly both. “I would compensate you for the cost and time spent of course.”

“You don’t need to do that, I’m just glad to help.” Ruby already had an idea to take advantage of this, she didn’t need extra compensation when she was already violating Weiss everyday, a thought that drained away most of her cheer over finally clearing the air with Weiss.

“No, I insist on giving you a fifteen percent commission.”

“Five percent.”

“Twenty.”

“Wait, what?” Ruby panicked.

“I have a clear advantage in this negotiation, being that you obviously have no intention of refusing to help me unless I offer a considerably extensive amount.” Weiss smirked, absolutely confident.

“Okay, okay, twenty. But that’s counted before tax and shipping.” Ruby stipulated.

“Very well, so long as I’m still paying for tax and shipping.”

“Deal.” Ruby nodded and stuck her hand out to shake on it. 

“Deal.” Weiss shook, nodding in satisfaction. “I’ll email you a list in a few hours, and write you a check for the appropriate amount once you are able to calculate it. Father will still be mildly displeased, but I can simply claim that it’s to aid with your textbook expenses, and thus necessary to maintain our grades as a team. And... do get rushed delivery.”

“Alright.” Ruby grinned and rubbed her hands together. It wasn’t just that this was an opportunity, she genuinely was happy to help. So what if she might be able to use this to expose Weiss to more of her cum? That didn’t change that it was a nice thing to do.

###### 

It was getting increasingly difficult to spar with her teammates. Beyond Ruby’s slowly fading guilt, she had started getting turned on so easily that she’d had to start wearing a gaffe just to avoid tenting her combat skirt. Even when she fought Yang, something that had implications she really didn’t want to think too hard about. She had the excuse of not wanting to fight her girlfriend with Pyrrha at least. Still, why did getting beaten up by beautiful women have to be so hot?

“I yield.” Ruby grunted out, pinned against the floor.

Yang nodded and let go before sitting cross-legged across from Ruby on the mat. “Ruby, are you alright?”

“Yeah, of course.” Ruby crossed her legs very carefully, mirroring Yang. She had no intention of giving up on skirts, they were just too great to abandon, no matter how awkward they could get.

“Ruby,” Yang frowned, “I’m really worried about you. You’ve seemed really desperate to help people ever since you got back, and stressed, and you’re definitely more easily distracted. Plus, it’s almost like you’re getting worse at fighting.”

“I just have a lot of stuff on my mind. The Tournament is soonish, you know?” Ruby shrugged, trying to play it off. “And hand-to-hand is hard for me, you know that.”

“Look, I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but I also know that you compartmentalize, and that’s just not a good idea. You should talk to someone about what happened when you got captured. You’ve been different since then, and I don’t believe you when you say you’re okay.”

“Well, I am okay.” The inappropriate thoughts that had been distracting Ruby during her brawl were quickly fading away, replaced with stress. “And some things are only worse to talk about.”

“Like mom.”

Ruby recoiled, wrapping her mom’s white cloak around herself for comfort. “Yeah, so stop it.”

“There’s something else going on here though, I can feel it. Something you haven’t told anyone.” Yang didn’t flinch, just kept watching Ruby closely with her arms crossed sternly.

“It doesn’t matter and I can’t tell you, so please stop.” Ruby fists curled into tight balls at her side. It was so much easier when she could just follow her routine of spiking milk and making cookies without having to think too much about the consequences of her actions anymore.

“Damnit Ruby, let me help somehow!” Yang drove her fist into the ground angrily. “There has to be something I can do!”

“No, and I don’t deserve your help anyway, so just let me be. It’s fine, really. I’m managing, and things will get better eventually, I promise.” Ruby smiled wanly. She’d be able to tell them eventually. And when she could, they’d be different people, people who’d be okay with what she’d done. Maybe she’d be different too by then.

“Of course you deserve help. Rubes, come on.” Yang’s scowl softened into a concerned frown. “We’re sisters, and I love you. Nothing could possibly change that, and there’s no situation where you don’t deserve whatever help you need.”

“I... guess.” Ruby sighed. “I love you too Yang.”

“Good.” Yang spread her arms. “Now come here.”

Ruby smiled and reluctantly crawled forward into Yang’s embrace, though she couldn’t help appreciating the way Yang’s chest pressed against her face. She wished things could just be normal.

###### 

Blake almost felt like she was being tortured. Every morning for the past week and change, she’d been woken up at four in the morning, two hours before everyone else, by Ruby’s lewd whimpers, which would inevitably be followed by the room being filled with the weakened scent of Ruby’s cum shortly after, albeit without any subsequent mess in the morning. By the third time it had happened, she couldn’t resist masturbating to the sound of Ruby’s lewd vocalizations.

It didn’t help that Blake had already had a bit of a crush on her energetic team leader. Ruby was the best authority figure she’d had in her life since she left her parents, not to mention being adorable and incredibly hot. At this point, the only thing stopping her from pouncing Ruby at an opportune moment and doing her best to suck her soul out through her dick was the fact that she didn’t want to mess with Ruby and Pyrrha’s relationship. It was a bit strange, really. Just weeks before the thought of doing something like that probably would have been enough for her to feel incredibly guilty and ashamed of herself and repress the mere thought.

Instead, when she just couldn’t take it any longer and her lust for Ruby washed over her like a tide once again, Blake ended up slipping quietly out of her bed and into Ruby’s in the morning, when those adorable moans woke her up once again. She wasn’t even slightly afraid of being caught, even though she was pretty sure she should be, nor guilty about the fact that she was about to molest her crush in her sleep. It felt... freeing. These urges had been building up over the last week, and she should have been so afraid she wouldn’t be able to control them, but it was all okay. After all, she could trust Ruby, Ruby would never hurt her.

As Ruby let out yet another cute little whimper, Blake slithered under the sheets and snuggled up against her. She wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath her skirt, letting Blake easily reach down and stroke her hard shaft, wrapped in a condom.

“Well, that won’t do.” Blake muttered to herself, her hand sliding down and gently rolling the condom up as she leaned in and kissed Ruby in her sleep. Her tongue dove into the sleeping girl’s mouth, happily exploring its wet warmth. Something about kissing Ruby when she wasn’t even responding sent a thrill down her spine, and she was happy to continue the kiss until she was interrupted by more of Ruby’s small moans, and a thrust of Ruby’s hips that made her cock leave a steak of precum across Blake’s palm.

Laying gentle kisses down Ruby’s body, Blake worked her way to the warm meaty flesh of Ruby’s cock. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep, filling her lungs with the heady scent of Ruby’s delicious musk. She needed more. It overwhelmed her, clouded her mind until all she could focus on was wrapping her lips around Ruby’s head and swirling her tongue across Ruby’s slit, licking up another burst of pre.

Ruby’s hips bucked as she groaned, making Blake wonder how she was even still asleep through a dream like that combined with her attention. With a mental shrug, Blake wrapped soft lips around Ruby’s head while her hands wrapped around the base. Her tongue lapped curiously and she was rewarded with a burst of pre as delicious as she had imagined, which she eagerly swallowed. 

“Mommy.” Ruby whined so quietly that Blake was only able to make out her word because of her ears. Blake momentarily pulled back from Ruby’s cock to smirk to herself. Mommy, huh? She’d remember that for when Ruby was awake.

Still, Blake returned to suckling Ruby’s cock quickly, in search of more cum. It was an all-encompassing desire that only grew the more she worshipped the glorious pillar of flesh before her and greedily breathed in its scent. Such a wonderfully intimate act, made into something so incredibly filthy by its nocturnal execution. She threw herself into it wholeheartedly in search of her reward, bobbing her head up and down while her hands stroked what she couldn’t fit into her mouth. One hand gradually made its way to Ruby’s balls, smooth and heavy, beautiful and feminine as Blake toyed with them in anticipation of the moment they would release their sweet cream.

It didn’t take long for Ruby to reach a release, ropes of thick cum shooting into Blake’s mouth as she swallowed as quickly as possible. Her heart rushed as the almost cream-like fluid fell across her tongue in spurt after spurt as her throat worked to fill her stomach with every last drop. As more filled her, her need was quenched from an inferno into satisfied embers of contentment, until she was happily suckling at the moisture of her own saliva on Ruby’s cock with nothing more to be gained for the moment.

Blake yawned, and very nearly curled up next to Ruby and went to sleep right there as contented warmth radiated through her entire body. Barely, her practical sense kicked in and she reapplied the condom that Ruby had been wearing before slipping back into her own bed. Her mind felt clear and fuzzy at the same time, perfectly ready to go back to sleep now that her need was gone, despite Ruby’s continued whimpers of pleasure.

The last idle thought that flitted through her mind as she drifted away was that there was no way she was going to resist doing that again. She’d do anything to feast on more of Ruby’s sweet cream.


End file.
